Spotlight Interview with Daughters of Charity Services
Daughters of Charity Services
Comments from Mark Corea, Research and Policy Officer at Daughters of Charity Services
Daughter of Charity Services is a charity that works with people and the media to inspire content and communication that changes hearts and minds.
1. How are you helping to tackle child poverty in London?
One of the projects in our family, St Vincent's Family Centre, provides a range of services to families in need, particularly in the Westminster area. The services include a drop in and creche service, classes and therapy for families, as well as a food bank service. We also have projects serving people in need in Manchester and Glasgow.
At a head office level, tackling child and family poverty is one of the five priorities in our 2024–2027 strategy. We work in partnership with other charities, including members of the Catholic Social Action Network (CSAN), to raise awareness and influence policy through co-signing letters, policy papers, and working on campaigns together.
Later this year, we will also be launching a research project focusing on the lived experiences of families affected by poverty in London, based on the experiences of our projects and other data that we'll gather.
2. Tell us something you are excited about?
We have many things to be excited about at the Daughters of Charity Services. We recently launched our 'Emerging Poverties Briefing' through which we collate stories and updates on poverty in London and across the country and goes out to about 150 subscribers.
We are also excited to launch our paper on poverty among Asylum Seekers and Refugees, which discusses policy papers and other literature on this topic, to understand the causes and solutions to this poverty. Later in the year, we'll be launching a large research project on child and family poverty in the UK, as well as a smaller project on social care in Scotland.
3. Share with our members something positive about your organisation’s achievement or service?
Our member projects are diverse and span across the UK. Our Westminster-based social care service, Vincentian Care Plus, provides domiciliary care for Westminster City Council. For two years running, 2024 and 2025, they have won a High Commendation at the Homecare Awards for their work supporting people affected by homelessness at Edward Alsop Court in the London Borough of Westminster. The model of enablement they run is inspiring and we are extremely proud of their achievement and recognition for supporting vulnerable Londoners.
4. What can other network members learn from you or find out more about through you?
Other networks can learn about the Vincentian approach to serving the people most in need and the history of the Daughters of Charity in Britain. They are a truly unique group of women who have dedicated their whole lives to serving people in poverty, and we exist to continue their legacy. Our Vincentian Values ensure that all of our staff live this legacy out.
We run a variety of services throughout the UK, ranging from supporting vulnerable families and older people in Westminster to supporting Roma families in Glasgow and families of prisoners in Manchester.
Other Vincentian charities include Depaul UK, the Passage, and the St Vincent de Paul Society. These charities share the same ethos as us, and they all carry out great work in London and throughout the UK.
5. What would most help you achieve your goals?
As a small charity more collaboration with other charities would help us achieve our goals. We are proud to be part of some great networks, including 4in10, NCVO and the No Child Left Behind campaign, and Caritas Social Action Network. By joining up messaging and working together on campaigns with other charities of all sizes, it strengthens our voice as a small charity and we believe a united voice strengthens the message of our advocacy and campaigning.
6. Why did you join 4in10? What do you enjoy about being part of the 4in10 network?
We joined 4 in 10 as it is a large network of like-minded charities who are all keen to serve the most vulnerable in our society, which is our fundamental purpose. The events and the newsletter service are particularly helpful, as it makes it easy to network with charities across the city that serve people in need.
Spotlight Interview with Heard.
Heard
Comments from Becka Kellaway, anti-poverty campaigner and Aishah Siddiqa, senior programme manager at Heard
Heard is a charity that works with people and the media to inspire content and communication that changes hearts and minds. On a fundamental level, good communication means being heard and feeling heard. Using insights from research and our 15 years experience of supporting communicators, we help storytellers build their confidence, land their message and engage audiences. Our work has reached millions of people in their living rooms and on their newsfeeds.
- How are you helping to tackle child poverty in London?
Heard has been supporting organisations and campaigners working on a range of social issues including child poverty. We do this through our consultancy and training offers for sector partners andcampaigners with first hand experience, and through our bespoke workshops for the TV and entertainment industry. Our mission is to create conversations about social issues that change minds and develop the conditions for lasting social change. The long-term effects are two-fold: a public that is more receptive to and approving of policy change, and a new generation of individuals who feel inspired to act on our most urgent issues.
Becka - I hope I help by campaigning and raising awareness. I am more than happy to speak out about things that I see are unjust and I don’t mind sharing my personal experiences. I think others can feel silenced by stigma and shame so I believe it’s important to shine a light and make a difference where you can.
- Tell us something you are excited about?
Becka - I’m excited that there are more conversations happening around child poverty and ways to tackle it and I’m really very hopeful for the future.
Heard has also recently started a new piece of work exploring how a narrative change approach, informed by lived experience, can shift cultural perceptions of our economy. Often messages about economic change delivered by academics and people with economic privilege are limited in effectiveness. The majority of the country will relate more to people who share in their lived experiences of financial hardship and other forms of economic injustice. These are the people who should lead a new story about what our economy could be, and the systemic changes that need to happen to bring that change about. We’re looking for lived experience consultants to help us explore this and create a set of framing recommendations about the economy to share with other campaigners, partners and organisations in the ecosystem. If you’re interested in finding out more, please email aishah on aishah@heard.org.uk
- Share with our members something positive about your organisation’s achievement or service?
Becka - the best thing about this organisation is that it empowers people to tell their story bravely and it supports them throughout the process and helps to frame the narrative so we all feel safe in our work.
Together with other lived experience consultants, we co-designed the digital version of Heard’s poverty focussed ‘Communication That Works’ course. The course itself is a blend of self-directed learning on an online platform with live workshops running over several weeks covering ways to effectively frame communications on poverty and tools to keep safe when sharing stories in interviews and beyond. We ran a successful pilot at the end of last year with Becka brilliantly facilitating our live workshops. We’ll be making final tweaks before going live this summer.
“This Heard Training course has been profoundly informative and impactful, not only in reshaping my approach as a communications professional but also in influencing how I think about and discuss social issues in all areas of my life. The trainers were knowledgeable, confident and excellent facilitators. The video content was clear, easily digestible and engaging. Overall, the program was truly transformative.” - Fern Bain Smith, Marylebone Project
- What can other network members learn from you or find out more about through you?
Becka- They can learn from Heard’s example how to be a champion for people with lived experience
Becka is an amazing, energetic and thoughtful facilitator - reach out if you require someone sensitive and engaging!
- What would most help you achieve your goals?
Becka - Funding, opportunities, awareness, more people fighting the good fight and they can start by attending the training and being mindful and empowered advocates.
- Why did you join 4in10? What do you enjoy about being part of the 4in10 network?
Narrative change requires joined-up approaches - and we love being able to work with 4in10 and its members. The Challenge Poverty Weeks were great examples of this in action! If anyone would like to connect and chat about how we can collaborate, please do =D
Spotlight Interview with Give. Help. Share.
Give. Help. Share
Give. Help. Share. work to tackle food poverty in London.
- How are you helping to tackle child poverty in London?
At Give. Help. Share., we tackle child poverty in London by addressing two key issues: food insecurity and a lack of nutritional education. We provide free nourishing food bags to children and families in disadvantaged communities via a school distribution network across Greater London and Herts. In parallel, we also run hands-on healthy eating workshops in primary schools, empowering children to make better food choices and become 'food change champions' in their homes. Our lessons are designed to be accessible and impactful, helping to improve long-term dietary behaviours and break the cycle of poor nutrition linked to poverty.
- Tell us something you are excited about?
We’re really excited about the growing interest from corporate partners who want to support our mission. More businesses are now recognising the importance of tackling child poverty, and we’re running more corporate volunteering days where teams help pack and deliver nutritious food bags for disadvantaged families. These sessions don’t just provide vital hands-on support - they also open people’s eyes to the realities of food insecurity in their own communities. It’s been powerful to see whole teams get involved, learn more about the issue and leave feeling inspired to do more.
- Share with our members something positive about your organisation’s achievement or service.
One of the things we’re most proud of at Give. Help. Share. is that we’re a grassroots charity founded and run by qualified teachers who also hold Master’s degrees in Public Health and Health Promotion. This unique combination means we not only understand how to engage children in schools, but we’re also fully equipped to design and deliver evidence-based interventions that genuinely improve health outcomes. Thanks to this expertise, we’ve developed a six-week food education programme that’s already been delivered in over 100 primary schools. These engaging, hands-on sessions are helping children learn how to make healthier food choices and take that knowledge back to their families. It’s a sustainable, empowering approach that we hope will make a real difference in the fight against child poverty.
- What can other network members learn from you or find out more about through you?
Other members can learn from our experience in developing and delivering engaging, low-cost nutrition education, with a particular focus on how to reach children in disadvantaged areas in a meaningful, age-appropriate way. We’re also happy to share insights on mobilising volunteers, running corporate engagement days and building sustainable food support models that empower, not just provide. We’re always happy to collaborate, share resources and work with other organisations to amplify our overall impact on child health and poverty.
- What would most help you achieve your goals?
One of the biggest barriers we see is the rising cost of healthy food - it’s simply not accessible for all families, especially those already facing hardship. To truly tackle child poverty, we need systemic change, so to achieve our goals, we’d benefit most from:
- Sustainable funding to continue delivering food and education to the communities that need it most
- Government support and lobbying contacts to campaign for long-term solutions
- Policy change including making food education statutory in all primary schools, so every child learns essential skills for lifelong health, regardless of background
- Why did you join 4in10? What do you enjoy about being part of the 4in10 network?
We joined 4in10 because we wanted to be part of a collective voice challenging child poverty in London. As a small but growing charity, it’s important for us to connect with others who share our mission and values. We're new to the network but it feels like a brilliant space to exchange ideas, raise awareness of the work we’re doing, and stay informed about policy developments that affect the families we support. Thank you!
Spotlight Interview with Cash Perks
Cash Perks
Cash Perks way to get cash immediately to beneficiaries for hardship grants and other welfare payments.
- How are you helping to tackle child poverty in London?
Cash Perks is transforming the way hardship funds reach vulnerable families by providing instant, cash-first support. Our innovative payment solution allows councils, housing associations, charities and community organisations to instantly send emergency funds directly via SMS, which can be withdrawn 24/7 for free at thousands of ATMs nationwide without the need for a bank account or card. This ensures families in crisis can access essential financial support quickly and with dignity, reducing the stress and stigma often associated with traditional aid like food parcels or shopping vouchers.
- Tell us something you are excited about?
We’re excited about the growing adoption of Cash Perks by almost 50 organisations of all shapes and sizes across the capital. In London that includes leading councils such as; Barking and Dagenham, Camden, Haringey, RBKC and Lambeth through to diverse frontline charities such; Z2K, Wimbledon Guild, CAB Kensington and Chelsea, North Paddington Food Bank and Solace Women’s Aid.
Hearing the real -life benefit of our service—families getting the immediate support they need without unnecessary delays—is incredibly rewarding. When clients collect their money, we often embed surveys that help measure the impact and gain valuable insights and feedback such as this from someone receiving their funds – “Brilliant experience eternally grateful for the help escaping domestic violence & accessing help to move to a safe home. Really appreciated!”
- Share with our members something positive about your organisation’s achievement or service?
Within the next few weeks, we will reach a huge milestone of disbursing over £10 million of hardship funds directly to struggling families. It’s been an amazing journey from recognising there must be a better way of getting emergency financial support to people – especially those that are unbanked or in vulnerable circumstances to reaching this important landmark. We were also hugely honoured last year to win two awards, recognised by The Big Issue as one of their Changemakers 2024 and as the best Financial Inclusion Innovation at the nation Pay360 Awards.
- What can other network members learn from you or find out more about through you?
Like an increasing number of civil society organisations, we advocate for a cash-first approach to poverty relief, which research shows is the most effective way to support people in crisis. We’re happy to share our experiences with organisations looking to transition to cash-based support, helping them navigate concerns around security, fraud, and administration, while also reducing time and delivery costs and most importantly maximising the impact of their funds through engagement in longer-term holistic support.
- What would most help you achieve your goals?
Greater collaboration! The more organisations that embrace cash-first support, the bigger the impact we can have on tackling poverty. We’d love to connect with more charities, councils, and funders who are interested in partnership. Advocacy for direct cash assistance at policy levels would also help ensure more families receive the support they need in the most effective way possible.
- Why did you join 4in10? What do you enjoy about being part of the 4in10 network?
We joined 4in10 because we share its commitment to addressing child poverty in London. We hope that being part of the network allows us to collaborate with like-minded organisations, learn from others’ experiences, and advocate for systemic change. We love the sense of collective action and the opportunity to share insights on how cash-first solutions can play a key role in reducing financial hardship for families.
Spotlight Interview with Be Enriched
Be Enriched
Be Enriched provides meals to families especially during school holidays.
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- How are you helping to tackle child poverty in London?
Be Enriched addresses child poverty by ensuring that children and their families have access to nutritious, affordable food, especially during the school holidays when free school meal programs are unavailable. Through initiatives like the Food Bus, which serves groceries at reduced costs, and Kids Clubs providing meals and activities, we bring stability and joy to low-income families. Already this year, the Food Bus has served: 1,300 customers! That means we’ll serve over 7000 people over the next 3 years.
- Tell us something you are excited about?
We are thrilled to share our “Gifts That Give Back Christmas Appeal” campaign. This initiative will bring food, companionship, and holiday cheer to over 300 people during the festive season. Through community meals, The Food Bus Project, and special kids’ activities, we will ensure no one feels forgotten this Christmas. We are particularly excited about hosting three weekly community meals throughout December and January, spreading warmth and joy in the midst of challenging times.
- Share with our members something positive about your organisation’s achievement or service?
This year alone, we’ve already served 2,265 guests and provided 6,795 nutritious meals at our community canteens, as well as saving 2,159 kg of food from landfill. Last year, Be Enriched made a remarkable impact, serving nearly 10,000 meals and preventing over 6 tonnes of food waste. This year, 800 volunteers contributed over 4,800 hours to our community projects, showcasing the power of collaboration and shared purpose.
- What can other network members learn from you or find out more about through you?
Network members can learn about innovative ways to reduce food waste while addressing food insecurity and social isolation. Our Food Bus Project, which brings affordable groceries and community space to areas in need, and our Community Canteens, where volunteers create meals from surplus food, are models of sustainability and fostering community resilience. We are always eager to share insights into creating inclusive, sustainable initiatives that foster long-term connections and tangible change.
- What would most help you achieve your goals?
This Christmas, 1 in 5 Families will choose between heating and eating, and 1 in 10 Pensioners are set to spend the holiday in isolation. So, we’re calling on supporters to join our Gifts That Give Back Christmas Appeal.
The Gifts That Give Back Christmas appeal will help combat the rising levels of hunger and loneliness affecting vulnerable people in South London this holiday season.
Be Enriched will be hosting three community meals per week from December, right through January, providing 300+ people with a safe space, food, companionship and gifts this Christmas.
This vital crowdfunding campaign will ensure that no one spends the holiday season hungry, alone, or forgotten.
- Why did you join 4in10? What do you enjoy about being part of the 4in10 network?
We joined 4in10 because of its unwavering commitment to addressing child poverty in London. Being part of this network provides invaluable opportunities to connect, collaborate, and learn from like-minded organisations. It’s inspiring to be among peers working toward a common goal, and we appreciate the platform to amplify our voice and share our impact.
Some more information about their Christmas campaign can be found here and the link to their crowdfunder is here.
Spotlight Interview with Family Fund
Family Fund
Family Fund deliver grants for families raising a disabled or seriously ill child or young people on a low income across the UK.
- How are you helping to tackle child poverty in London?
Family Fund helps families across the UK who are raising disabled and seriously ill children and young people on low incomes, with grants, tailored information and support about financial issues, and benefits checks. We have grants for families with a child or young person aged up to 17, and for families with a young person living at home aged 18 to 24. Find out about our grants and services on our website.
- Tell us something you are excited about?
Right now we’re really excited about the growth of our information and support services. We’ve just launched our new Discover more support tool on our website. The tool is a searchable online database full of over 145 organisations who can support families raising disabled and seriously ill children on a low income. We are also running more free managing finances workshops online, and we’re exploring partnerships to deliver more free online support such as our iPad accessibility workshops with Guide Dogs. To keep up to date, find us on Facebook @familyfund
- Share with our members something positive about your organisation’s achievement or service?
We get lovely feedback about our online workshops.
“Education isn’t a one-size-fits-all, and we’ve found it hard to find activities that work with Joshua’s dyslexia. It feels like everything is either too academic or centred around sports. The workshop allowed Joshua to learn a new skill, use his creativity and have fun. It was perfectly catered to his interests, and as his parents, it was a huge relief for us to find something that he’d enjoy, that didn’t cost a penny.” Helen, mum of Joshua who attended our creative workshops over the summer holidays.
“I learnt a lot of new things, and the information provided was straightforward. I was taught how to use an online benefits calculator, where you input your details, and it tells you which benefits you’re entitled to. As a result, I discovered I was missing out on the Child Tax Credit element of my benefits. It’s through the Family Fund workshop that I realised that I’m entitled to more money.” Hilda, mum of Kalani, who attended our Checking your benefits online workshop.
- What can other network members learn from you or find out more about through you?
We always want to talk to organisations that support families on low incomes who are raising disabled or seriously ill children or young people. As a UK-wide pan-disability organisation working in all the nations of the UK we’re really well connected, involved in partnerships and coalitions working for change and representing families’ issues at a high level. So we can be a great networking resource for smaller, or regional and local-focussed organisations. We’ve been going 50 years, and we’re very careful in our partnership work, so families really trust the information we share with them.
- What would most help you achieve your goals?
Apart from more funding to be able to provide more grants, or better still an end to poverty and inequality, what would help us most would be being in touch with regional and local organisations so we can reach the families you work with.
- Why did you join 4in10? What do you enjoy about being part of the 4in10 network?
It’s great to be part of a network of organisations working in really practical ways to tackle the injustice of poverty that families in London face. It’s great to be part of the movement to make a difference.
If you would like to find out more about Family Fund please visit their website.
Spotlight Interview with Acts 435
Acts 435
Acts 435 is an online national charity that connects those that want to help with those that have a need, by resourcing local churches and charities throughout the UK to meet the specific needs of their community.
How are you helping to tackle child poverty in London?
Acts 435 has 116 partners within Greater London, and whilst all of them are undertaking different work, many of these churches and organisations will be utilising Acts 435 to meet the needs of children and their families. One of those partners is Lewisham Foodbank who continually support individuals, families and their children. One recent request was for Annette* who now has legal guardianship of her two grandchildren, and needed to purchase clothing for them. On receiving the money towards the clothing, Annette said, “Can you please extend my gratitude to the people who have helped me to be able to purchase school clothing, and clothing in general, for my two grandchildren. I am overwhelmed with their generosity, which has come at a time when I am most in need of assistance. Again, I thank you all from the bottom of my heart.”
Annette also told the local Acts 435 Advocate that, whilst friends and family have passed on some useful second-hand items, it meant so much to two teenage girls to be able to help choose some new clothes, and help to give them dignity in their time of need.
Tell us something you are excited about?
As a charity we’re continually excited about the fact that 100% of the requests that get posted onto our website by our partners are all met quickly, in comparison to a lot of other application processes. As we rely on individual donors going onto our website to give towards the needs, the amount of time for a request to be crowdfunded fluctuates, but generally all requests are met within a maximum of two weeks. Also, because of this funding model, we can also offer our resource to churches/charities for FREE!
Share with our members something positive about your organisation’s achievement or service?
Acts 435 was founded 14 years ago, and since then we have been able to resource over 700 churches and organisations to meet the specific needs of individuals. During that time we have helped over 52,000 individuals with over £6,000,000, which all goes directly to meet their need. We can also guarantee that 100% of every donation is given to the recipient, as all our charity’s costs are covered by GIft Aid reclaimed on applicable donations.
What can other network members learn from you or find out more about through you?
Our vision is to meet the needs of as many people as possible, all over the UK. However, we’re very aware that many cities, like London, have a huge amount of deprivation. We would love to resource more churches and charities in London with Acts 435 to be able to directly help their communities and those that they may already be supporting through our work. It would be fantastic if we could let as many churches/charities know about us as possible. If you’re not already partnered with us, you may like to attend one of our online coffee mornings to find out more: https://guestlist.co/u/acts435
What would most help you achieve your goals?
As we’re a small charity, with only four paid staff members, we don’t have a fundraising budget and can’t attend all the large events and conferences that many other charities can. Therefore, people spreading the word, and talking about our work, is the most effective way for new churches and charities to hear about us. We would love to equip more people with the knowledge about our work, so that they can then let other churches/charities know about the fantastic resource through Acts 435.
Why did you join 4in10? What do you enjoy about being part of the 4in10 network?
We are quite new to the 4in10 network, and have really appreciated the support from the team. We have also enjoyed sharing our work at a recent online meeting. We joined because we know that there must be many more churches and charities who are seeking to alleviate child poverty within London, and we want to resource them to meet the needs that they are seeing in their areas of Greater London.
If you would like to find out more about Acts 435 and how your church or organisation could get involved, please visit: acts435.org.uk/partner
Spotlight Interview with Lee Dema from St Matthews Project
Lee Dema from St Matthews Project
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- How are you helping to tackle child poverty in London?
The majority of our participants live in the Brixton Rush Common and Coldharbour wards of Lambeth which are within the top 10% Deprivation Deciles nationally for crime and living environment.68% of our participants are entitled to free school meals. At the heart of what we do is a desire to make sure that no child in our community is left behind. To help us realise that aim, we do a number of things. All of our activities are free, which is very important as the vast majority of the young people we work with cannot otherwise afford to make use of the limited sporting facilities available within the local area. To help those who cannot afford proper football boots, we have a scheme where people can donate second-hand boots in good condition to us. We run holiday programmes, which combine access to free high quality sporting activities with a nutritional meal, as well as free after-school snacks twice a week at our estate-based cage football sessions. Some children often take these snacks home for parents. We also hand out take and make boxes, to ensure that our participants are not going hungry, and provide feminine hygiene products to those who need them. We have recently secured some digital inclusion funding enabling us to buy equipment, so that we can support young people with their school work. During the lockdowns, we were able to provide free laptops and dongles to some of our families to ensure that they could fully participate in homeschooling.
- Tell us something you are excited about?
We have seen a marked upturn in the number of young people accessing our services in recent years, particularly in the wake of the pandemic and the ongoing cost of living crisis. We now regularly work with over 350 young people each week and have been expanding the range of programmes we offer. For example, we are now delivering innovative programmes focused on improving young people’s mental health and wellbeing in school and community settings. Word of these programmes has spread beyond the project and we are now receiving increasing recognition from local councilors and other organisations for the quality of work we are doing in this area.
- Share with our members something positive about your organisation’s achievement or service?
Football is a powerful hook for young people in our area and experience has shown us that it is the best means to deliver support and guidance. Due to the relationships we have built up with young people and their families over a long period of time, we have earned a legitimacy to advise and help them in a way that other organisations cannot. Young people turn to St Matthew’s because our consistent approach to working with the community provides them with a sense of stability in increasingly uncertain times. As a result, we can maintain relationships with young people who are on the fringes of our community when they have cut themselves off from most or all of the other positive influences in their lives. Equally, it means that their families feel able to come to us for support when they are often reluctant to engage with statutory services. Our coaches are recruited from within the local community and include people who have been St. Matthew’s members who can then act as inspiring and positive role models to the participants. We find that using former participants, including ex-gang members, as coaches not only has a knock-on effect for that particular individual, but also on the young people they are working with, who begin to see what they could do in the future. Through our partnerships with local education providers, residents’ associations and community groups, we know that we are unique in the area in the type of sport and training programmes we deliver. Staff, parents, the police and young people all say that they think our activities offer something positive and can help deter young people from getting involved in more negative activities.
- What can other network members learn from you or find out more about through you?
We are a good example of the importance of being firmly rooted in your local community. Being ‘hyper’ local can actually be an advantage, as it affords you the opportunity to really build up trust and credibility. It isn’t always about trying to expand your geographical reach.
- What would most help you achieve your goals?
Just like any other voluntary organisation, long-term funding is crucial to helping us achieve our goals. We currently have a very small staff team, comparative to the amount of services we are delivering to such a large number of young people. We need to look to increase our size in line with the demand for our programmes. In addition, help with reporting and data analysis would be goo
- Why did you join 4in10? What do you enjoy about being part of the 4in10 network?
We joined the network to ensure that we are as well informed about child poverty issues as possible. It’s useful for us to be part of a group of organisations who understand the issue and challenges we face.
Spotlight on 4in10 Member Praxis and the NRPF Action Group
How are you helping to tackle child poverty in London?
Praxis is a charity for migrants and refugees. We provide immigration advice, housing and peer support and through all of these ways our work helps to protect children from poverty. We have become a leading expert in finding pathways out of destitution and supporting migrants facing homelessness, and our training and campaign work has national and international impact. Our core purpose is to help migrants in crisis or at risk, ensuring they can live in safety, overcome the barriers they face, and take control of their own destinies. You can read more about our strategy here, find us on Facebook, Twitter and our website here.
As part of this work, we facilitate the No Recourse to Public Funds Action Group, which is made up of campaigners with lived experience of the No Recourse to Public Funds (NRPF) policy, to build campaigns to end this policy. You can find out more about our campaign, and read the NRPF Action Group’s manifesto calling for the end of NRPF here.
Tell us something you are excited about?
We are really excited that the group has decided to focus on campaigning for free school meals. The overarching goal of our campaign is to ensure free school meals for all children living in poverty, regardless of their parents’ immigration status. We’re launching with a specific call to the Government to make permanent the temporary extension of free school meals to some groups of children living in poverty affected by No Recourse to Public Funds, which was brought in during the pandemic.
We are also calling for free school meals for all children in poverty, regardless of immigration status, to take into account the fact that children with insecure immigration status are not covered by the extension of eligibility.
Our policy briefing sets out our campaign asks in more detail – you can find that here;
Additionally, here are some posts you can share if possible:
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PraxisCommunityProjects/posts/325409016299148
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/Praxis_Projects/status/1500765019050500096
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/p/CazDWYtoCQa/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6906533946969186304
If you can support our campaign on social media, in your email networks and newsletters, this would be hugely appreciated! Please do reach out if you would like to collaborate in any way!. Any support you can offer to our campaign is hugely welcomed and thank you for all you do – Pascale.robinson@praxis.org.uk
Share with our members something positive about your organisation’s achievement or service?
We were one of the organisations that helped to uncover the Windrush Scandal originally and we’re proud to have been part of the work to campaign to change the system.
What can other network members learn from you or find out more about through you?
- We can offer advice for those who need help navigating the migration system: Get Help — Praxis for Migrants and Refugees.
- We are experts in finding pathways out of destitution and supporting migrants facing homelessness. Please reach out to collaborate on this!
- We can offer training on the immigration system for a variety of organisations (depending on our capacity).
What would most help you achieve your goals?
We want to make sure that migrants can live in safety, overcome the barriers they face, and take control of their own destinies. To do this, we campaign for systemic change. We’re building alliances and working in partnership with experts by experience to create positive, long-term changes to the policies and practices that create exclusion and destitution. We’d love to collaborate on work to achieve these goals!
Why did you join 4in10? What do you enjoy about being part of the 4in10 network?
Though we have only been in contact with the 4in10 team for a short while, 4in10 has already provided a brilliant chance to forge connections and collaborate with other amazing organisations working in the capital!
We are so looking forward to working together more, especially on our campaign to make sure all who need them have access to free school meals regardless of their immigration status.
Spotlight on Restorative Justice for All
Spotlight Interview with 4in10 Member RJ4A
- How are you helping to tackle child poverty in London?
The Restorative Justice for All International Institute (RJ4All) is a charitable, user-led NGO with a mission to address poverty and advance community cohesion and human rights. We redistribute power in a more equal way by delivering social justice and poverty relief projects, educational programmes, intercultural dialogue, internships and high-quality volunteering opportunities to the most marginalised groups of society. Child poverty in London is not only a reality, but also a persistent societal failure. That is why we put emphasis on making a difference by providing local direct services from the RJ4All Rotherhithe Community centre, where we are based. It is not possible to achieve equality and community cohesion, if poverty and disadvantage are not rooted out first.
Since COVID19, we prioritized poverty relief and wellbeing projects, focusing on making a change locally and by prioritizing services for groups who are faced with extra challenges. One of these groups are children and young people in the South East London area where we are based. These local services are provided from the RJ4All Rotherhithe Community Centre, which has become a hub of community empowerment and cohesion. It offers a food-bank, a community fridge, free sport classes, a community library, COVID19 tests and educational workshops to children, young people and professionals. It is also a safe place for anyone who wants to pop in for a coffee, use our facilities or just chat with our interns, volunteers and team.
- Share with our members something positive about your organisation’s achievement or service.
Last year, RJ4All was the recipient of the Best Charity Award from the Southwark Business Awards due to its youth-led COVID-19 poverty relief project “You are not Alone”. During the pandemic, children and young people came together and with the support of the RJ4All Director, Dr. Gavrielides, they set up the project to help their peers who were struggling. The project started with a small grant that RJ4All managed to secure, providing food and PPE to children, young people and their families. It then quickly expanded across London, resulting in generating over 500 volunteer placements, a mental health helpline run by children and young people for children and young people, online courses and a bank of online resources, internships and online fitness classes. The project is now under the auspices of the independent youth-led FRED campaign, hosted by RJ4All. Dr. Gavrielides also received the Southwark Civic Award 2021 as a result.
- What can other network members learn from you or find out more about through you?
We encourage members to learn more about restorative justice and its underlying value of power sharing. Restorative justice is not just a justice practice. It is an ethos and a methodology for carrying out projects, or even how to lead our lives. We would be happy to introduce members to restorative justice and we encourage them to take our free CPD certified courses by visiting https://rj4all.uk/online/
- What would most help you achieve your goals?
Our mission is to address poverty and advance community cohesion and human rights. We do this by using the power of education, sports and art, as well as the practices and values of restorative justice including power sharing, fairness, equality, dignity and respect. We start locally and thus any support for our community service provision in SE16 London would be much appreciated. Our food bank and community fridge are always in need for stocking up!
- Why did you join 4in10? What do you enjoy about being part of the 4in10 network?
We were very pleased to join the campaign in October (London Challenge Poverty Week), and we very much enjoyed working with the network given that we share similar values and goals. We often operate in silos making our work harder and our impact smaller. By connecting our minds and hearts, we come closer to addressing power abuse and the inequality that impacts on our children.