Every year, ATD Fourth World UK hosts a series of events to mark the United Nations International Day to End Poverty. In 2021, we had both an in-person anti-poverty poetry jam and an online one. This year we tried to do something we had never done before: co-produce a theatre performance.
In partnership with the Journeymen Theatre, ATD put on a show that not only had a powerful message but brought music, laughter and some tears to all that attended. To read more about the event, click here and to read reflections on the play by Lynn Morris, co-founder of the Journeymen Theatre, click here.
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The event had two main parts. The first part was the performance of 'We Make Our Mark', about the dire conditions of poverty during the Victorian era. Here you can find a summary video of the performance, with snippets of its powerful messages. The entire production of 'We Make Our Mark' can be watched here.
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After an intermission, the performance continued with readings of the harsh truths people in poverty now face in modern-day Britain. The evening drew to an end with a touching poetry reading by Georgina Simmonds and the screening of a video created by Poverty2Solutions.
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Here you can find a summary video of the second half of the event and here the whole second act.
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Also as part of London Challenge Poverty Week, ATD was invited to talk to students at the Lycée Français Charles de Gaulle. Their student club, 'Justice au coeur' (Take justice to heart) organised a screening of 'Joseph the Rebel', a movie based on the founding of ATD Fourth World by Joseph Wresinki. Following a discussion of the movie and of ATD, the students spent a week fundraising and sent us a check for £400. Many thanks!
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🎅🏼🎄❄️ATD UK wishes you a happy Christmas!! ❄️🎄🎅🏼
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Here at ATD's centre in Addington Square, we are Christmas-ready! We wish you all a joyful Christmas and a great start to the new year!
But despite Christmas being a happy time of year, the season can add pressure to tight budgets and fragile situations for many people in poverty. This year, due to the cost-of-living crisis, many families face even stronger hardships than in past years.
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As costs spiral, please consider regular giving by standing order to support our action. Here are a few ways your gift makes an impact. To donate, please click here.
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Well-being breaks - Together in Dignity
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One of the main aims of our 'Getting Away From It' project is providing families in poverty a safe space to relax and escape the hardships of life. This past year ATD offered residential well-being breaks eight times for families with children, and twice for groups of individual adults. You can read more about these well-being breaks here.
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Speaking to Parliament about the digital divide
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The meeting included the impact of this divide on refugees and asylum seekers, on children and education, and on transportation. Speakers included ATD activists Thomas Mayes and Amanda Button, talking about the digital divide through the eyes of lived experience and the effects on families. To read more, please click here.
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Poverty Is Not Neglect: A Social Work Challenge
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In this well-attended webinar organised jointly by ATD and the Parents, Families and Allies Network, parents with experience of poverty led social work academics and others in a lively discussion about challenging the ways that povertyism can cause poverty to be confused with neglect in child welfare decision-making. To watch separate videos of all nine speakers, please click here, or to watch the entirety of the webinar, click here. You can also contribute here to a fundraising effort for PFAN.
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Gathering evidence for the United Nations
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GRIPP (Growing Rights Instead of Poverty Partnership) connects lived experience activists from ATD with Amnesty International, Just Fair UK, and other partners. In this article, Just Fair explains 'What We Have Learnt From ATD Fourth World'. This blog post explains the Action Learning approach GRIPP is using to gather evidence for the United Nations about how poverty violates human rights in the UK.
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ATD's contribution to GRIPP is focused on Article 10 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, which is about protecting the family. To read about our second study on the impact of poverty on the right to family life, please click here.
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Tiegan and Kaydence are collaborating with peer researchers Aurelia Drayak and Francesca Crozier-Roche, and being supported by Dr. Gill Main. This collaboration follows work they did last year to inform the UN about the views of children and young people removed from their families into care or adoption.
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Poverty-aware practice and the psychological impact of poverty
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Due to the cost of living crisis, the Nuffield Family Justice Observatory invited ATD Fourth World to speak to its Stakeholder Advisory Council about the need for poverty-aware practice in the family justice system.
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To read what Francesca Crozier-Roche and Diana Skelton said at this event, please click here.
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Click here to download this review and read more about ATD's projects in 2021.
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At ATD, we are always looking for regular volunteers to support our work and help us achieve our aims. If you are interested in helping our teams, either in London or at Frimhurst Family House in Surrey, please email atd@atd-uk.org
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