Meeting for Sufferings: Responding to government cuts
Quakers shared stories of local work responding to welfare benefit cuts and growing inequality
‘We find ourselves utterly at odds with the priorities in our society which deny the full human potential of millions of people in this country. That denial diminishes us all.’ Quaker faith & practice, 23.21 Meeting for Sufferings reaffirmed support for this statement made by London Yearly Meeting in 1987.
Representatives of Quaker Meetings from across Britain shared and heard each other’s stories of work being done in their local areas to respond to welfare benefit cuts and growing inequality. One Friend emphasised the value of ‘growing things together, repairing things together, building a sense of local resilience’.
Several Friends expressed a desire to pay extra tax to protect the most vulnerable. Friends appreciated the chance to tell local stories ‘to give us hope, to give us ideas… so that we can have a sign of hope’.
It was acknowledged that this issue is of great concern to Quakers across the country: ‘People in my Meeting, in my area, who have never expressed themselves on what, for many of us, are the really big issues, are supporting foodbanks, are supporting Citizens Advice Bureaux and helping people who have problems with homelessness. What we see here is a movement… an issue which has moved more Quakers, members and attenders, than any other…’
The results of a national survey completed by 362 Quakers showed that fifty-eight per cent are already engaged with the issues, individually or as a Meeting or both. Foodbanks attracted most interest and action, closely followed by housing and homelessness, and then increasing inequality. The survey results will be published on the Britain Yearly Meeting website.
Helen Drewery, general secretary of Quaker Peace & Social Witness (QPSW), gave a summary of work being done at a national level. A joint project with the Ecumenical Council for Corporate Responsibility (ECCR) will launch a new website called ‘Your Faith, Your Finance’ which ‘helps people to make ethical and spiritual choices about their use of money’.
An Economic Mythbusters course was run in partnership with the New Economics Foundation and the resources are available on the website.
Over the next year, QPSW is developing a strategy to address the issue of corporate influence on public policy. It plans to explore further the scope for a national project on government cuts and inequality and to report back to the next Meeting for Sufferings.
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