Blog - Rethinking Poverty

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Image shows the back of a young girl, She is sat in a lounge watching TV.

Cost of living makes summer holidays a struggle for many

By Amy Baker and Hannah Paylor from Carnegie UK

22 Aug 2023

As the school summer holidays draw to close, Amy Baker and Hannah Paylor from Carnegie UK look at how the rising cost-of-living has put extra strain on families.  The summer...

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Image shows a conference room at the the Town and Country Planning Association's conference. There is a speaker at the front of the room addressing a group of people who are sat around tables.

Demonstrate don’t dictate: Bournville 125 and a new settlement

By Jack Jeffrey

03 Aug 2023

As we lurch from one unprecedented crisis to another, it’s easy to conclude that the many problems we currently face can only be managed. The best we can hope...

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Why it’s time to start taking young people seriously

By Barry Knight and Liz Wallace

10 Jul 2023

In this blog, Rethinking Poverty’s Barry Knight and The Orwell Foundation’s Deputy Director Liz Wallace reflect on what our shared work reveals about young people’s political engagement and education...

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The Janette Kirton-Darling Memorial Prize on BBC Politics North

By Rethinking Poverty

05 Dec 2022

The Janette Kirton-Darling Memorial Prize was featured on the BBC Politics North programme, including winners Chopwell Regeneration Group. For more information on the night, you can download the event brochure here....

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Chopwell Regeneration Group wins the Janette Kirton-Darling Memorial Prize

By Barry Knight

01 Dec 2022

At a ceremony held at the Cathedral in Newcastle upon Tyne on 30 November 2022, the first prize of the Janette Kirton-Darling Memorial Prize was awarded to Chopwell Regeneration... Read More

Dwellbeing Shieldfield

By Barry Knight

30 Nov 2022

The final applicant for the Janette Kirton-Darling Memorial Prize, Dwellbeing Shieldfield, is a community cooperative in the East of Newcastle. Members of the cooperative share life together, support one... Read More

Chopwell Regeneration Group (CRG)

By Barry Knight

28 Nov 2022

The five applicants for the Janette Kirton-Darling Memorial Prize have so far focused on what local people can do to solve specific problems in our society – improving the... Read More

Citizens Advice Newcastle

By Barry Knight

27 Nov 2022

The fifth applicant for the Janette Kirton-Darling Memorial Prize  is  Citizens Advice Newcastle. This is a small, independent charity providing free, confidential and independent advice to people who live,... Read More

International Community Organisation of Sunderland

By Barry Knight

24 Nov 2022

The fourth application for the Janette Kirton-Darling Memorial Prize continues the focus on race and identity, this time with an emphasis on migration. The International Community Organisation of Sunderland... Read More

Racial Justice in Education Action Team

By Barry Knight

23 Nov 2022

In the first two applications for the Janette Kirton-Darling Memorial Prize, we saw the power of local people to affect issues that affect them.  In one case, the result... Read More

Even Better CIC Jarrow

By Barry Knight

18 Nov 2022

Even Better, based in Jarrow, the second applicant for the Janette Kirton-Darling Memorial Prize, has a powerful way of addressing the problem of mental health.  The approach harnesses the... Read More

Mums making a difference

By Barry Knight

15 Nov 2022

Local people complain that they are ignored by politicians until election time.  Then, they are wooed with all sorts of promises to improve their lives.   Such behaviour causes much... Read More

Janette Kirton-Darling Memorial Awards

By Rethinking Poverty

11 Nov 2022

In March, we announced the Janette Kirton-Darling Memorial Prize, to celebrate the initiative of organisations who have developed local community initiatives as effective means to #ShiftThePower to people whose voices are rarely... Read More

Banks vs the climate: ‘Who cares if Miami is six metres underwater in 100 years?’

By Lukasz Krebel

20 Jul 2022

Stuart Kirk, Global Head of Responsible Investment at HSBC Asset Management, last month asked investors: ​“Who cares if Miami is six metres underwater in 100 years?” His widely-reported comments demonstrate the... Read More

Employee ownership: Owning the workplace, securing the future

By Sean Benstead

19 Jul 2022

At the heart of the debate on community wealth building is a fundamental question about employee ownership and who or what holds the keys to wealth in our society.... Read More

Responses to the cost of living crisis? Community energy groups and cooperative farms offer help

By The Alternative Global

06 Jul 2022

The cost-of-living crisis is descending on all of us, and while the solutions obviously have to be, to some degree, macro-oriented and defensive (see this great blog from James... Read More

Recognising the value of community organising

By Bonnie Hewson

28 Jun 2022

The past five years of working on the place-based funding programme, Empowering Places, has opened my eyes to the benefits of community organising. One of the themes that has... Read More

Housing co-ops could solve housing crisis in Canada

24 Jun 2022

The housing affordability crisis seems impossible to solve. Policies intended to help people priced out of the market often serve to fan the flames and increase costs. An example... Read More

Local government at the heart of a just transition

By Ellie Radcliffe

08 Jun 2022

As the energy price cap rises today, CLES Senior Researcher, Ellie Radcliffe, reflects on her recent visit to the Apse Big Energy Summit and considers the role of local authorities in balancing... Read More

How are young people writing about the climate crisis?

By Jordan Dilworth

13 May 2022

The Orwell Youth Prize, which is run by The Orwell Foundation, uses the writing of George Orwell as a starting point to inspire young people to write about their... Read More

Come dancing with systems

By Barry Knight

10 May 2022

A low ebb Those of us working for social justice and human rights have faced strong headwinds in recent decades. A world obsessed with economic growth has led to... Read More

How can we develop flourishing lives in tough times?

By Barry Knight

10 May 2022

A group of thinkers and activists have been meeting together over the past six months to wrestle with how we might develop flourishing lives for all.  Our first step... Read More

Finding social value in Manchester through public procurement

27 Apr 2022

In its recently published Levelling Up White Paper, the government argued that the power of public procurement should be used to deliver support to communities and pledged to put... Read More

Green space access is not equal in the UK

By Ian Mell and Meredith Whitten

26 Apr 2022

A growing gap in green space provision divides the UK according to recent research, with people in northern cities having access to fewer parks than their southern counterparts. Nationwide,... Read More

The Democracy of Consumers is dying. Now we must build a Democracy of Citizens

By Jon Alexander

21 Apr 2022

This piece on a ‘Democracy of Citizens’ is #8 in the ‘Visions for the Future of Democracy’ series curated by Involve for its 15th anniversary. We have asked authors to... Read More

Citizen-led renovation: climate policy’s secret weapon?

By Rapid Transition Alliance

19 Apr 2022

Citizen-led retrofitting, long the poor relation of climate policy, could now be its secret weapon in accelerating rapid transition. Home renovation through the citizen-led model is making breakthroughs from... Read More

The 51%: Gender equality at the heart of a more inclusive economy

By Frances Jones

06 Apr 2022

What if gender equality was at the heart of local plans for a more inclusive economy? Efforts to rebuild and recover economic prosperity in a time of crisis often... Read More

Beyond the framework: the co-benefits of deliberation

By Jez Hall

31 Mar 2022

A new paper examining Shared Future’s Leeds Climate Change Citizens Jury highlights the co-benefits of deliberation, writes SF Director Jez Hall. Local authorities wanting to achieve meaningful carbon reduction, are increasingly turning... Read More

Climate action support for community business

By Power to Change

30 Mar 2022

Power to Change has been a major funder of community-led climate action over recent years, with as much as 25% of our funding supporting community business climate action, including our CORE and Next Generation energy programmes. Our mission... Read More

Levelling up: policy frameworks for collective wellbeing

By Pippa Coutts

24 Mar 2022

Levelling up is never going to be one size fits all. To support the development of areas that currently have poorer economic and social outcomes, we need to recognise... Read More

How can local people take action on things that matter to them?

By Tiffany Lam

23 Mar 2022

How can local people build control and take action on things that matter to them? Our research shows that there are five main components of collective control: social connectedness;... Read More

Janette Kirton-Darling Memorial Prize

By Rethinking Poverty

18 Mar 2022

The Prize The Janette Kirton-Darling Memorial Prize will be awarded to an organisation that has demonstrated outstanding leadership, creativity and impact in developing a local community initiative developing effective... Read More

IPCC report reveals how inequality makes climate change impacts worse

By Harpreet Kaur Paul

17 Mar 2022

Nearly half of the global population – between 3.3 and 3.6 billion people – lives in areas highly vulnerable to climate change. The brief window in which to limit... Read More

Community wealth building: making financial power work for local places

By Rachel Bentley

15 Mar 2022

Recent years have seen a growing number of local councils across the UK, including Birmingham, Sandwell and Wigan, as well as the devolved administrations in Scotland and Wales adopting... Read More

‘Levelling up’ the UK is a golden opportunity for climate action – but the government is failing

By Jacob Ainscough

10 Mar 2022

Economists no longer talk of decarbonisation as a cost; climate action is now widely seen as an investment. Like any investment in new economic sectors, money spent is expected... Read More

Is degrowth – making less, but better – the future that the fashion world has been waiting for?

By The Alternative UK

09 Mar 2022

Fascinating article from the Vogue Business news site on the growing relevance of degrowth – producing and consuming less and less to mitigate climate meltdown – and fashion. It... Read More

Developing a shared framework for a hopeful future

By Hugh Eliis

03 Mar 2022

In November 2021, a group of ten people gathered together in Letchworth Garden City for two days of conversation. We began with a clear sense of our collective failure... Read More

Steps towards a better world

By Barry Knight

03 Mar 2022

Written at the outset of the pandemic, #BuildBackBetter showed how being forced to slow down had made people want a different future. Having a profound sense of vulnerability made... Read More

Shaping Our Future: a Wellbeing Framework for the North of Tyne

By Sarah McMillan and Professor Mark Shucksmith OBE

02 Mar 2022

Earlier this week (Tuesday 25th January), the North of Tyne Cabinet endorsed the recommendations of a report by the Roundtable on Wellbeing in the North of Tyne and, in doing so, committed... Read More

Levelling up White Paper: you can’t level up from Whitehall

By Sarah Longlands

24 Feb 2022

The Levelling up White Paper was finally published last week.  But despite 332 pages of what was a rather chaotic document (part text book, part policy, part analysis), when... Read More

Wellbeing: how living well together works for the common good

By Iza Kavedžija

22 Feb 2022

The World Health Organization (WHO) describes mental health as “a state of wellbeing in which an individual realises his or her own abilities, can cope with the normal stresses of life,... Read More

Plymouth Octopus is a cosmolocal CAN in action

By The Alternative UK

18 Feb 2022

As we know from long experience, Plymouth is a world-class powerhouse of social and civic enterprise – and it’s richly demonstrated in the Plymouth Octopus latest newsletter. POP (as... Read More

We can’t level up without restoring nature

By Alex Chapman

10 Feb 2022

The government’s favourite term, ‘levelling up’, contains little meaning – just enough to be politically useful, but not enough to support any real plan. At NEF, we investigated the role of... Read More

The brave: delivering community wealth in Scotland

By CLES

03 Feb 2022

At the close of the 2021 Community Wealth Building Summit, we reflect on remarks by our opening keynote speaker Tom Arthur MSP and the work that CLES has undertaken... Read More

What can we do to ensure decent, affordable housing?

By Deborah Doane

27 Jan 2022

New Podcast: How can we ensure decent, affordable housing?  This episode of the Anti-Apathy Aunt podcast hosted by Deborah Doane, welcomed Gill Hughes from #thehullwewant, alongside Osama Bhutta from Shelter, responding to... Read More

Planning for people and planet: Quietly revolutionary ideas from practice

By Frazer Osment

20 Jan 2022

Change is coming. It has to. Tackling the twin crises of climate breakdown and nature loss is the biggest challenge we are ever likely to face. It will hit... Read More

Lessons from a citizens’ jury on climate change

By Maria Lucien

19 Jan 2022

With COP 26 starting in Glasgow on 31st October 2021, we have brought together the recommendations from six citizens’ juries and assemblies run by Shared Future over the last... Read More

Transforming markets: why markets need a makeover

By Barry Knight

13 Jan 2022

If Martians landed on Earth tomorrow, they would be surprised by many things, but they would be shocked by an economic system that allows a few billionaires to play... Read More

Earth, wind and fire – the just transition

By Rebekah Diski

07 Jan 2022

This is an article from the fourth issue of the New Economics Zine. You can read the full issue here. Last month, over 500 workers at the GKN car factory... Read More

Community power campaign says We’re Right Here

04 Jan 2022

The politics of localism is shifting and developing, at all levels. We hear about a new national campaign being launched in the last few days. The We’re Right Here campaign is... Read More

Land justice: this land is our land

By Josina Calliste

30 Dec 2021

This is an article from the fourth issue of the New Economics Zine. You can read the full issue here. Land is ultimately about power. Those who own the land... Read More

A community wealth building energy transition

By Eleanor Radcliffe

28 Dec 2021

On the eve of COP26, and with the challenges we face in tackling the climate crisis becoming ever more apparent, CLES and Carbon Co-op today release a major new toolkit for councils,  a... Read More

Kendal underlines the importance of community-led climate change action

By Peter Bryant

23 Dec 2021

The Kendal Climate Change Citizens’ Jury, commissioned by Kendal Town Council gave us at Shared Future, as the facilitating team, an opportunity to reflect on the importance of instituting... Read More

Glasgow and its appetite for green community business

By The Alternative UK

21 Dec 2021

While the COP focus is on Glasgow, and the Scottish central belt, we thought we’d share some vibrant local Glasgow initiatives and community business that address zero-waste shopping, and... Read More

You can’t achieve levelling up without a Green New Deal

By Miatta Fahnbulleh

16 Dec 2021

This is an article on levelling up and the Green New Deal from the fourth issue of the New Economics Zine. You can read the full issue here. ‘Levelling up’... Read More

Doughnuts are popular in Devon

By The Alternative UK

14 Dec 2021

We have long seen Devon and the English South-West as a social, economic and cultural laboratory for what might look like an “ecological civilisation”. So it’s perfectly logical that... Read More

Resources for the metropolises of the 21st century

By Mariona Sanz

09 Dec 2021

UK Centre for Local Economic Strategies (CLES) Chief Executive, Sarah Longlands, spoke last month at La Metròpoli Pròspera, organized by the Metropolitan Strategic Plan of Barcelona. Following her appearance... Read More

The place of place – Carnegie UK and wellbeing

By Pippa Coutts

23 Nov 2021

For over 100 years Carnegie UK has worked on place-making in different guises – as funder, as researcher and evaluator and as an advocate. In our new strategy –... Read More

North Ayrshire and building community wealth

By The Alternative UK

11 Nov 2021

Some quietly achieved radical localism and community wealth building going on in North Ayrshire. While the Preston Model, and its underlying logic of community wealth building, have been lauded... Read More

How local authorities can help deliver climate justice

By Ellie Radcliffe

10 Nov 2021

In recognition of today’s Global Climate Strike and Fridays for Future’s demand for intersectional climate justice, CLES’s Ellie Radcliffe explores the role of local authorities in the UK in... Read More

Democracy Pioneers amplify young voices in the climate conversation

By Katy Rubin

03 Nov 2021

Katy Rubin reflects on Democracy Pioneers, a project she facilitated for Shared Future to engage Glasgow’s policymakers on climate change through the medium of theatre. On 14 September, eight young... Read More

5 Routes to Community Power

By Adam Lent and Jessica Studdert

02 Nov 2021

Adam Lent and Jessica Studdert look at the practical ways to make community power an everyday practice, not just a long-term ambition. How can community power be embedded in... Read More

Levelling up from the ground up

By Rose Grayston

28 Oct 2021

Depending on where you live in England, there can be huge differences in your quality of life. This is down to some areas’ economic decline and low incomes, but... Read More

Berlin and the community land trust

By The Alternative UK

21 Oct 2021

In this week’s German elections, Berliners voted with a resounding majority (56.4%), supporting a bill to expropriate 226,000 homes from private landlords, and take them into public ownership. It’s... Read More

Democracy in flux: Reflections on a decade at Involve

By Tim Hughes

19 Oct 2021

Today is my final day at Involve, the public participation and democracy charity, which naturally brings with it a time of reflection after 11 years spent at the organisation, and... Read More

What will the end of the Universal Credit uplift mean for wellbeing?

By Hannah Ormston

14 Oct 2021

At the Conservative Party Conference last week, Prime Minister Boris Johnson remarked that ‘wages are going up faster than before the pandemic began’. These comments were made against the backdrop of... Read More

How Community Brain is transforming Tolworth

By Katy Oglethorpe

12 Oct 2021

Tell us about Tolworth, and why it was important to work there? Robin Hutchinson (Community Brain founder): Tolworth is in Southwest London. It’s part of the borough of Kingston-upon-Thames. It’s... Read More

Powering the just transition in Yorkshire & the Humber

By Rebekah Diski, Alex Chapman & Chaitanya Kumar

06 Oct 2021

The UK faces an uneven decarbonisation challenge, with some regions and industries under particular pressure to reduce emissions. Many of the places and communities most acutely affected are also... Read More

Same Storm, Different Boats – the impacts of climate change fall unevenly and unequally

By Simran Basi

21 Sep 2021

It is easy to think of climate change as a problem for future generations to deal with and tackle, especially if its effects are not felt directly. But millions... Read More

Rethinking Scotland: our systems need to let people in

By Jennifer Wallace & Pippa Coutts

14 Sep 2021

History tells us that periods of great disruption are often followed by periods of massive social change. But last year’s’ flurry of ‘build back’ and ‘build forward’ reports and... Read More

Our Land: Liverpool Land Commission

By Isaac Stanley

07 Sep 2021

On the 6th July CLES launched the final report of the Liverpool City Region Land Commission: Our Land. Reflecting the findings of England’s first Commission to review the use of... Read More

The IPCC report and beyond: Talking Points on the state of our planet

By Rethinking Poverty

02 Sep 2021

August is often dubbed the silly season, but this one has been packed with momentous events: the publication of the latest IPCC report, the chaotic exit from Afghanistan, and... Read More

The four-day week is unavoidable, it is the way we have to go

By Emmanuelle Katshila

31 Aug 2021

‘The four-day working week is a far more civilised way to go. It is part of our future, it is unavoidable, it is the way we have to go.’... Read More

Space to Participate

By Jenny Wood

25 Aug 2021

Children are routinely thought of as our future and take a symbolic place in our culture when considering innocence, hope and imagination. But we also have a societal tendency... Read More

Learning to listen: ‘No sense making about me without me’

By Laura Seebohm

19 Aug 2021

At the start of the pandemic one women told her support worker “I’ve been told what to do for years, this is nothing new”. We know that policy decisions... Read More

Re-think power to build inclusive local economies

By Frances Jones & Eleanor Radcliffe

12 Aug 2021

Thirteen years ago, the global financial crisis prompted human suffering across the world. In the wake of this, community wealth building emerged as an alternative approach to local economic... Read More

The road to recovery

By Lydia Prieg

10 Aug 2021

The past year has been extremely difficult for all of us. Over 4 million people in Britain have tested positive for Covid, and over 150,000 people have died with... Read More

Can community wealth building scale up?

By Caroline Hartnell

05 Aug 2021

Probably the key challenge for all those committed to progressive causes is how we scale up from the multitude of creative initiatives taking place locally. ‘At local level, we... Read More

Talking Points reflects on our post-pandemic future

By Rethinking Poverty

04 Aug 2021

What does the experience of Euro 2020 and its aftermath tell us about the state of England today, and about the outlook of the younger generation as we emerge,... Read More

Citizens Assemblies: fashionable focus groups or the great hopes of democracy?

By Katy Oglethorpe

03 Aug 2021

Newham citizens assembly Newham, the East London borough: home to the 2012 Olympics, birthplace of Danny Dyer and the most ethnically diverse place in England and Wales. Soon Newham... Read More

Orwell Youth Prize Winners: A new direction, starting small

By Marnie Rauf

29 Jul 2021

A NEW DIRECTION: STARTING SMALL “This is a unique, well-written and interesting piece, which explores how small, persistent changes can impact an individual’s entire life course. It also demonstrates... Read More

Orwell Youth Prize Winners: Starting Small by Creating Norfolk Wetlands

By William Walker

28 Jul 2021

A NEW DIRECTION: STARTING SMALL BY CREATING NORFOLK WETLANDS “A powerful and original interpretation of this years’ theme, drawing the link between the local environment and the climate and... Read More

Orwell Youth Prize Winners: Work experience as a young campaigner

By Jude Leese

27 Jul 2021

WORK EXPERIENCE AS A YOUNG CAMPAIGNER “A poem that will resonate with many campaigners young and old, touching on both the inspiration and drudgery of working to make the... Read More

The Orwell Youth Prize 2021: Reader responses

By Orwell Youth Prize

21 Jul 2021

The results of The Orwell Youth Prize 2021 will be revealed at our Celebration Day on Thursday 22nd July, and we are looking forward to sharing another year of exceptional... Read More

Young people and inequalities: start from where they’re at

By Caroline Hartnell

14 Jul 2021

Even before the pandemic, young people in the UK faced many forms of inequality: a lack of jobs, a shortage of affordable housing, and cuts to public services –... Read More

The Bank of England’s new ​’net zero’ mandate could be a game changer

By Lukasz Krebel

05 Jul 2021

The Bank of England’s (BoE) Monetary Policy Committee meets today, and will publish its first Monetary Policy Report since the Bank was given an updated ​‘net zero’ mandate at the... Read More

Local elections 2021: Ideas for new administrations

By Tom Lloyd Goodwin

29 Jun 2021

Economic recovery from COVID-19 will be a long and painful process. When the pandemic struck, we at CLES argued for a new common-sense approach to economic development based on the... Read More

The Case for Growing our Own Beans

By Anna Tervahartiala

22 Jun 2021

As the pandemic has stood the world on its head, one of the debates which has been thrown wide open is that of the future of the economy. PSJP... Read More

A New Beginning

By Rosaleen Tite Ahern

17 Jun 2021

The one thing we all need after the pandemic is a new beginning. Change is in the air, whether that be ideological, legislative, or deeply personal. The theme for... Read More

What does Covid-19 mean for the inclusive growth agenda?

By Charlotte Morgan and Luca Tiratelli

16 Jun 2021

What’s the role of inclusive growth in recovering from crisis? It’s easy to see as a ‘nice-to-have’, but can be at the centre of helping us build back better.... Read More

Rethinking Poverty: what needs to change?

By Barry Knight

09 Jun 2021

We have the ideas for change It is now more than three years since Rethinking Poverty began to compile resources to support the development of a good society without... Read More

Talking Points reflects on the 2021 local elections

By Rethinking Poverty

04 Jun 2021

The results of May’s 2021 local elections will have dismayed those who care about progressive causes, as showcased in Rethinking Poverty. But can we learn anything from them about... Read More

Basic Income in the US: is the Overton window open?

By Caroline Hartnell

28 May 2021

As outlined in March’s Talking Points, no-strings-attached direct cash payments are central to Biden’s stimulus package. While this is not Universal Basic Income (UBI), also known as Basic Income,... Read More

What’s Earth Day got to do with Wellbeing?

By Hannah Ormston, Ben Thurman, Jennifer Wallace

26 May 2021

“In nature nothing exists alone.” Rachel Carson, Silent Spring (1962) Over the last 13 months – and during a time of isolation, separation, and loneliness – many of us... Read More

Community food systems should be part of the new normal

By Christian Jaccarini

20 May 2021

With last year’s long queues and supply issues at supermarkets, the Covid pandemic has made us all re-examine how we get our groceries and where they come from. But... Read More

Vermont democracy conducted at a human scale

By The Alternative UK

13 May 2021

Other than being Bernie Sanders’ Congressional seat, we have picked up at A/UK on the singular qualities of the state of Vermont – as a “laboratory for democracy”, in... Read More

Talking Points looks at the future of work

By Rethinking Poverty

06 May 2021

As the UK takes further steps towards ending the restrictions of lockdown, April’s Talking Points looks at what the pandemic has meant for the future of work and what... Read More

Three lessons from Bogota on making cities safer for women

By Tiffany Lam

06 May 2021

In the UK, Sarah Everard’s murder has prompted debate around women’s safety, with 80% of women of all ages having been sexually harassed in public spaces. In Bogota, work is being... Read More

Cities must cut their ‘consumption emissions’ – here’s how

By Joe Blakey and Jana Wendler

29 Apr 2021

Almost every city now has some form of climate target. For instance Manchester, in northern England, aims to be zero carbon by 2038. But such targets generally focus on emissions... Read More

Caring for the earth, caring for each other

By Isaac Stanley

21 Apr 2021

During the peak of the first lockdown, people gathered on their doorsteps to clap for carers. Now it’s time to truly recognise their value. The inadequacies of England’s current... Read More

The time is right for a children’s Wellbeing Budget

By Jackie Brock, Sophie Flemig and Jennifer Wallace

14 Apr 2021

In so many ways, Scotland is a wonderful place to grow up. In a global context we have free education and health care, access to an environment noted around... Read More

Powering social value through recovery

By David Burch

08 Apr 2021

On 11th March, we released our yearly analysis of the contribution that Manchester City Council’s procurement spend makes to the city’s economy and how it can support the achievement of wider... Read More

US stimulus package inspires Talking Points

By Rethinking Poverty

07 Apr 2021

January and February’s Talking Points focused on poverty and equality and the climate crisis, looking for glimmers of hope and finding not many – at least not in the... Read More

Basic Income: a feasible route to income security? 

By Malcolm Torry

31 Mar 2021

Lack of income security is widely recognised as a major problem – and one that has been exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic. Could a Basic Income help? And is... Read More

Building Back Better with a Green Industrial Revolution

By Simran Basi

24 Mar 2021

The Covid-19 pandemic has disrupted the UK economy and, nearly a year on from its outbreak, the number of people unemployed continues to rise. The latest figures show that an... Read More

Kendal Citizens Jury on Climate Change

By Shared Future

18 Mar 2021

What should Kendal do about climate change? That was the challenge tackled by a diverse group of local residents of Kendal during the summer and autumn of 2020. Commissioned... Read More

The repair café: what can we learn from it?

By Ellen Bassam

17 Mar 2021

Covid-19 has brought about a renewed interest in the community – of which the repair café is increasingly a part. With few other places to go, our immediate surroundings... Read More

Glasgow locals demand an eco-housing and sustainable energy development

By The Alternative UK

11 Mar 2021

When we exalt the power of the local, sometimes we mean really local. We were alerted to this stirring Glasgow story this week. A patch of ground in the... Read More

Local innovations to solve the problems that matter

By Pippa Coutts

09 Mar 2021

The COVID-19 pandemic, with its many challenges has tested our ability to innovate. Many of us associate the idea of innovation with bright, new objects or processes, and this... Read More

Talking Points: February 2021  

By Rethinking Poverty

04 Mar 2021

February’s Talking Points is inevitably focused on the climate crisis and the crisis of poverty and equality. Following the Chancellor’s budget announcement, what can we hope for? In both... Read More

Valuable work

By Nadia Whittome

02 Mar 2021

The Covid-19 pandemic has shone a light on the discrepancy between the work we most urgently need as a society, and the work we value and reward. So many of... Read More

Coastal communities in the time of Covid

By Fernanda Balata

25 Feb 2021

In 2015, we put out a paper outlining a common vision for coastal communities. Our work found that creating and supporting good, sustainable jobs is completely compatible with maintaining a healthy... Read More

The future of planning: a moment’s insight is worth a lifetime of experience

By Barry Knight

23 Feb 2021

On ‘Blue Monday’ in mid-January 2020, TCPA policy director Hugh Ellis was considering the future of planning and experienced a meltdown while on a train journey. He realised that... Read More

Sustainable cities after COVID-19: are Barcelona-style green zones the answer?

By Anupam Nanda

16 Feb 2021

The lockdowns and restrictions introduced to control the spread of COVID-19 have resulted in huge changes to urban life. Previously bustling city centres remain empty, shunned in favour of suburban or... Read More

Sticking plaster or open-heart surgery? Time to create a good society

By Caroline Hartnell

15 Feb 2021

Friday 5 February saw the official launch of Poverty 2nd Ed by Ruth Lister (member of the House of Lords and vice-chair of Compass, which hosted the event; the first edition was published... Read More

Community ownership, recovery and empowerment

By Pippa Coutts

09 Feb 2021

I was lucky enough to chair a panel discussion on Community Ownership and Towns this week, with Community Land Scotland, Greener Kirkcaldy, Power to Change, The Stove Network.* We recognised, with many others, the High Street... Read More

Talking Points: January 2021  

By Rethinking Poverty

04 Feb 2021

With a new lockdown announced on 4 January and schools closed across the country, 2021 got off to a bad start. By 25 January, Gordon Brown was warning that... Read More

Conscious consumerism: can we shop our way out of the crisis?

By Caroline Hartnell

02 Feb 2021

‘Anyone who believes that exponential growth can go on forever in a finite world is either a madman or an economist,’ remarked the economist Kenneth Boulding. Yet growth dominates... Read More

The case for a four day week

By Anna Coote & Aidan Harper

28 Jan 2021

  Shorter working time should be at the heart of post-pandemic recovery. That’s the message of The Case for a Four Day Week, published by Polity this month, and written by... Read More

Book launch: Poverty (2nd Edition)

By Ruth Lister

27 Jan 2021

The coronavirus pandemic has exposed and aggravated the economic insecurity experienced by a growing number of members of society.  This may encourage greater understanding of the acute insecurity typically... Read More

Driving community wealth and green jobs in Lewes

By Isaac Stanley

20 Jan 2021

Green New Deals aren’t just for cash-flushed central Governments. In the last year, Lewes DC in East Sussex has been growing its own distinctive variety of green economic strategy.... Read More

A coal mine, trust, and just transition in Cumbria

By Chaitanya Kumar

19 Jan 2021

An essential ingredient to achieving net-zero carbon emissions in the UK is trust. This is what we highlighted in our report last year titled Trust in Transition. Without trust, efforts to accelerate... Read More

Talking Points looks back on 2020

By Rethinking Poverty

07 Jan 2021

2020 has been a year like no other in living memory, with two months pre-Covid and the rest of the year forming the first part of the post-Covid era.... Read More

Making markets work for the common good

By Andrew Milner, Lisa Jordan and Stef van Dongen

30 Dec 2020

As the pandemic has stood the world on its head, one of the debates which has been thrown wide open is that of the future of the economy. PSJP... Read More

Accelerating the people-powered shift

By Carrie Deacon and Will Bibby

23 Dec 2020

Across the country in communities, in health services and in local authorities, a change has been happening. From East Ayrshire and Cambidgeshire to Leeds and Plymouth, leading public service innovators have been redefining the relationship between... Read More

Degrowth: why we need a new political economy

By Caroline Hartnell

17 Dec 2020

Degrowth, or he end of growth is not the end of the world, says Parrique. ‘It can be the beginning of many worlds.’ … Basically, degrowth means a decline of... Read More

Wellbeing and GDP: explained

By Annie Quick

09 Dec 2020

This is an article from the second issue of the New Economics Zine. You can read the full issue here “The goal and objective of all economic policy should be collective... Read More

Putting place at the heart of a green recovery

By Eleanor Radcliffe

03 Dec 2020

With fresh discussion this week about the importance of a green recovery, it is increasingly clear that post-Covid rebuilding must have a just transition away from a carbon-based economy... Read More

Talking Points: November 2020  

By Rethinking Poverty

02 Dec 2020

A recent article by Gordon Brown in the New Statesman bore the title ‘How to save the United Kingdom’ – and he is not alone in painting a bleak... Read More

The five clear principles of community wealth-building

By The Alternative UK

26 Nov 2020

As we noted in our Editorial last week, the Biden presidency (assuming it kicks off eventually by Jan 30th) may have a worrying tendency to top-down policy direction. Which... Read More

Permanent changes to UK’s failing social security system needed

By Holly Barrow

25 Nov 2020

The Covid-19 pandemic has once more highlighted that the UK’s social security system is in dire need of reform. Chancellor Rishi Sunak himself seemingly identified its shortcomings, as he... Read More

How workers can take on big finance and win

By Alice Martin and Annie Quick

19 Nov 2020

The impact of Covid-19 has been a powerful reminder of the leverage workers could collectively hold. Care workers, supermarket cashiers and couriers – usually dismissed as ​“unskilled” – have demonstrated... Read More

Green recovery: what is it and how do we get there?

By Caroline Hartnell

18 Nov 2020

The rhetoric across the political spectrum is that we need a green recovery. We are also seeing growing public outrage at increases in poverty. This was the background to... Read More

Digging deep for change

By Neil McInroy

12 Nov 2020

We are optimists in local government. But that optimism is being stretched to breaking point: by this pandemic, by ongoing public service austerity, rising demand, insecure finances and stalled... Read More

Citizens assemblies to #BuildBackBetter

By Caroline Hartnell

11 Nov 2020

When we think about building back better, we are thinking about power and how we make decisions, said Compass’s Frances Foley, introducing a webinar on citizens assemblies called Deliberating and doing:... Read More

Out with the old, in with the bold: six propositions for building back better

By Sarah Davidson

05 Nov 2020

Those of you who follow the work of the Trust will know that our calls for governments to focus on societal wellbeing aren’t new. We have been working on... Read More

Talking Points: October 2020

By Rethinking Poverty

04 Nov 2020

With the UK now facing a second wave of coronavirus and an England-wide lockdown just announced, October’s Talking Points is less focused on recovery and the changing world of... Read More

Transformative Green Deal Politics

By Jon Bloomfield

29 Oct 2020

The urgency of the climate change challenge has been visibly growing, dramatically illustrated by the bush fires that swept across much of Australia at the end of 2019. The... Read More

A caring economy: why invest in one now?

By Caroline Hartnell

28 Oct 2020

What is a caring economy? And why invest in it now? ‘Building a caring economy’ was the topic of a New Economics Foundation (NEF) briefing, hosted jointly with the Women’s... Read More

A New Story of Us: what role can communities play in shaping the post-COVID future?

By The Alternative UK

27 Oct 2020

A/UK’s joint report with the Local Trust, where Plymouth residents wrestle with COVID, and point to the future Communities and localities have often responded quickly, effectively and innovatively to... Read More

Use Covid recovery to get to net zero: the Citizens Assembly’s verdict

By Chaitanya Kumar

22 Oct 2020

In the first of its kind in the UK, a National Citizens Assembly has deliberated and this week produced a detailed set of recommendations to get the UK on... Read More

Big reset needed for a resilient society

By Barry Knight

21 Oct 2020

My favourite history book, The Sleepwalkers, tells the story of how the great powers drifted into the First World War without reason or regard to consequences. This is a... Read More

APLE Collective videos for the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty

By APLE Collective

20 Oct 2020

Saturday 17 October marked the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty, and the APLE Collective (Addressing Poverty with Lived Experience) have produced videos for the event. They focus... Read More

APLE Collective lights up the UK map with the voices of lived experience 

By APLE Collective

15 Oct 2020

On 17 October the APLE Collective are lighting up the UK map with the voices of lived experience, sharing what it feels like to be heard as part of... Read More

From Coronavirus to Community Wealth – Building Back Better in Northern Ireland

By Neil McInroy, Joe Bilsborough & Charlie Fisher

14 Oct 2020

Just over a year ago, our organisations – the Centre for Local Economic Strategies (CLES) and Development Trusts NI (DTNI) – jointly penned Time to build an inclusive local... Read More

Talking Points: September 2020

By Rethinking Poverty

07 Oct 2020

This month’s Talking Points picks up August’s discussions of the changing world of work and the knock-on effects on cities. It also looks at the inexorable rise of poverty... Read More

Universal Basic Income & Universal Basic Services: How can we bring them together?

By Isky Gordon

01 Oct 2020

Universal Basic Income (UBI) is not a new idea but has recently gained some credence, with interest in possible pilot studies shown by the Scottish national government and one... Read More

A radical process leads to radical proposals for a better social security system

By Michael Orton

30 Sep 2020

Readers of Rethinking Poverty are warmly invited to give their views on proposals for a better social security (welfare benefits) system. The proposals are from a project called the... Read More

Doughnut economics: an idea for the development of cities?

By Caroline Hartnell

17 Sep 2020

Wikipedia describes the Doughnut, or Doughnut economics, as ‘a visual framework for sustainable development’, the name deriving from the shape of the diagram, ie a disc with a hole... Read More

The power of communities of place and interest

By Hannah Ormston

16 Sep 2020

What does community mean to you? Whether it means stopping to catch up with your neighbour in your local park; knowing where to access support if you need it;... Read More

Knifepoint

By Jessica Tunks

10 Sep 2020

This piece was a Senior Winner of the Orwell Youth Prize 2020.   I live Walthamstow, an area that has often been associated with violent crime, and was once... Read More

Light on the horizon: the story of the Eastbourne fishing quay

By Chris Williams

09 Sep 2020

Good things come to those who wait, or so that saying goes. Like so many small-scale fleets across the UK, fishers in Eastbourne have been squeezed to the point... Read More

How many people does it take to change (the world)?

By Maya Stokes

03 Sep 2020

This piece was a Senior Winner of the Orwell Youth Prize 2020.   Did you hear? London is burning, and not for the first time. It appears that, despite... Read More

Talking Points: August 2020  

By Rethinking Poverty

02 Sep 2020

Lockdown has seen huge changes in the world of work – most notably the rise of home working. With the furlough scheme coming to its end and the government... Read More

The poverty pandemic

By Manal Nadeem

27 Aug 2020

This piece was a Senior Runner Up of the Orwell Youth Prize 2020. 7th of June 2020. Saturday. The cars do not honk or hiss. The people do not... Read More

Super-Policies: New Thinking To #BuildBackBetter

By Jennifer Wallace

26 Aug 2020

The Carnegie UK Trust works to improve personal, community and societal wellbeing. Many of the issues that we work on, and the partners and groups who we work with,... Read More

Streets in the Sky

By Rosaleen Tite Ahern

20 Aug 2020

This piece was a Senior Winner of the Orwell Youth Prize 2020. If you could knock the world down and begin again what would you build? Bright lights, creature... Read More

Pandemic truths 6: How Covid-19 shone a spotlight on the warped values of our current way of life 

By Andrew Webster

19 Aug 2020

‘Indeed, the one thing these prophecies had in common was that, ultimately, all were reassuring. Unfortunately, though, the plague was not.’ ‘The truth is that nothing is less sensational... Read More

Reducing inequality in Oxford: what Covid innovations can be sustained?

By Caroline Hartnell

13 Aug 2020

The last few months of lockdown have seen organisations across the country finding innovative ways to meet the challenges presented by the pandemic. As we edge back to ‘normal’,... Read More

New times, new welfare attitudes?

By John Hudson, Neil Lunt and Ruth Patrick

12 Aug 2020

As the UK emerges tentatively from lockdown, and the economic and social implications of the crisis start to solidify, there is an inevitable and valid debate about what shape... Read More

Talking Points: July 2020  

By Rethinking Poverty

05 Aug 2020

With recovery packages being debated the world over, we stand at a crossroads. This month we start by looking at the widely divergent options we face, and the need... Read More

Conversations With Communities: Sharing Common Experiences From Scotland, England, Northern Ireland And Wales

By Hannah Ormston, Rachel Heydecker and Pippa Coutts

04 Aug 2020

The Carnegie UK Trust works to improve personal, community and societal wellbeing. Many of the issues that we work on, and the partners and groups who we work with,... Read More

Facing the Shadow Within Ourselves to #BuildBackBetter

By Barry Knight

30 Jul 2020

To follow up his article, #BuildBackBetter, Barry Knight is researching practical ways to make this happen. In the first of a series of articles, he examines the role of... Read More

Orwell Youth Prize winners revelead: 1200 young people write on the future they want (and reveal the future they fear)

By Alex Talbott

28 Jul 2020

Reports from the collective frontline of being young in lockdown In the acres of Covid coverage, young people’s future has been a political weapon for every side – school,... Read More

Pandemic truths 5: How Covid-19 shone a spotlight on the warped values of our current way of life 

By Andrew Webster

23 Jul 2020

‘What’s natural is the microbe. All the rest – health, integrity, purity (if you like) – is a product of the human will, of a vigilance that must never... Read More

Can we “green growth” our way out of the coming slump?

By The Alternative UK

22 Jul 2020

It doesn’t exist, says Jason Hickel. And more from the “de-growth” discourse. Here, we turn to economist and anthropologist Jason Hickel a lot when we want to hear a... Read More

Own the future: a guide for new local economies

By Frances Jones

17 Jul 2020

Build back better. It’s a powerful phrase, but as post-Covid-19 economic policies begin to emerge, those three words are starting to ring hollow. Based on what we have seen... Read More

A green recovery for local economies

By Jonty Leibowitz

16 Jul 2020

Covid-19 and the climate emergency both expose in different ways the fundamental lack of resilience in how we develop local economies in the UK. There has been a lot... Read More

#BuildBackBetter coalition launched

By Gemma Lawrence

10 Jul 2020

The #BuildBackBetter coalition, which consists of 350 organisations from business, trade unions and civil society, was launched on 29 June. On its website it is described as ‘a platform for... Read More

Talking Points: June 2020  

By Rethinking Poverty

08 Jul 2020

As the UK moves further away from lockdown, the question of recovery comes ever more to the fore. This month we start with the new #BuildBackBetter coalition, launched against... Read More

Pandemic truths 4: How Covid-19 shone a spotlight on the warped values of our current way of life

By Andrew Webster

07 Jul 2020

‘All I maintain is that on this earth there are pestilences and there are victims, and it’s up to us, so far as possible, not to join forces with... Read More

Crisis conversations – Reset #4: time, work and sharing economic benefits

By Andrew Simms

02 Jul 2020

A decade of economic hardship seemed to have transformed for increasingly urban workforces the promise of shorter working weeks and better work – life balances into bleaker futures, of... Read More

A good life for all: why a human rights approach to poverty and inequality makes sense

By Anya Bonner

01 Jul 2020

Across the country, the COVID-19 pandemic is both highlighting and reinforcing existing inequalities, poverty and exclusion faced by many in the UK. Most of these problems existed long before... Read More

Pandemic truths 3: How Covid-19 shone a spotlight on the warped values of our current way of life

By Andrew Webster

30 Jun 2020

‘The truth is that everyone is bored, and devotes himself to cultivating habits.’ Albert Camus, The Plague This is the third in a series of articles in which Andrew Webster... Read More

Reasons for hope: why and how we can #BuildBackBetter

24 Jun 2020

The crisis reveals much and will change more – for good or bad. Everything feels like it is now up for grabs. There is much pain and suffering and... Read More

Pandemic truths 2: How Covid-19 shone a spotlight on the warped values of our current way of life

By Andrew Webster

23 Jun 2020

‘Perhaps the easiest way of making a town’s acquaintance is to ascertain how the people in it work, how they love, and how they die.’ Albert Camus, The Plague This... Read More

Looking Back Better: the Future Forum on climate change

By Alex Talbott

18 Jun 2020

While human suffering is not a win for climate justice, could new timescales for international cooperation foster the mechanism for urgent environmental action? Our body has a virus, a... Read More

Coronavirus: a chance to reshape the UK’s approach to immigration?

By Holly Barrow

17 Jun 2020

As the coronavirus pandemic wreaks havoc across the globe, it has once again become clear that not all of us are equally equipped to weather this storm. Casting a... Read More

Pandemic truths 1: How Covid-19 shone a spotlight on the warped values of our current way of life

By Andrew Webster

16 Jun 2020

‘Stupidity has a knack of getting its way; as we should see if we were not always so much wrapped up in ourselves.’ Albert Camus, The Plague Barry Knight’s 2017... Read More

Looking Back Better: the future forum on technology

By Alex Talbott

11 Jun 2020

With our worlds increasingly online, young people’s contribution to the design of our digital future is essential.  Unsurprisingly, the impact of technology (both positive and negative) wove its way... Read More

How to make elite power listen to the people? Organise

By James Morrison-Knight

10 Jun 2020

‘If I’m honest I am just tired Tired of everyday filling up my car and Knowing that I’m paying for the bombs in Iraq Tired of pretending like it... Read More

Economic recovery and reform: the role of community power

By Neil McInroy & Tom Lloyd Goodwin

09 Jun 2020

Long before the Covid-19 pandemic, our economy was failing many people and the planet. The imperative then was to create an economy that serves our needs, and shares wealth... Read More

Looking Back Better: The future forum on education

By Alex Talbott

04 Jun 2020

Students challenge a restrictive curriculum: why education should be more than academic. The subject of education is perhaps the area where we are naturally most willing to accept the... Read More

Talking Points: May 2020

By Rethinking Poverty

03 Jun 2020

As the UK takes the first faltering steps out of lockdown, the focus is more than ever on the ‘what next?’ question. Will the coronavirus crisis lead to a... Read More

Deliberating with care for a caring democracy

By Marian Barnes

02 Jun 2020

Sometimes, when times seem unlike anything we have known before, we need to reach for ideas that are not new. The current crisis does not necessarily mean that we have... Read More

Looking Back Better: the Future Forum on community

By Alex Talbott

28 May 2020

What is ‘community’? What does it look like? How has our perception of the term changed in the course of the coronavirus crisis? Any meaningful engagement with the idea... Read More

A post-growth economy: thinking the unthinkable

By Caroline Hartnell

27 May 2020

Monday 11 May saw the launch of a new report from Positive Money called The Tragedy of Growth. That same day a webinar brought an audience of almost 900... Read More

Crisis conversations – Reset #3: thriving places to live

By Andrew Simms

26 May 2020

Quieter streets, cleaner air, more time – amidst the human tragedy of the Covid-19 outbreak other experiences are inviting people to ask more of the quality of their home... Read More

Looking Back Better: young people and the Future We Want Now

By Alex Talbott

21 May 2020

The Orwell Youth Prize is a social justice-based writing programme and prize for young people (aged 12-18) from across the UK. This academic year, the Prize has been working... Read More

Reducing inequality in Oxford: enter Covid-19

By Caroline Hartnell

20 May 2020

Almost a year ago, on 1 March 2019, I met with a group of people from Oxford – city council officials, an elected councillor and staff of social enterprise... Read More

Time for local economic development to muscle up

By Neil McInroy

18 May 2020

For some in the local economic development community there is talk of a post crisis “bounce back” – reflective of an idea that the economy is on a purely... Read More

Community Planning During COVID-19

By Lauren Pennycook

14 May 2020

COVID-19 and Wellbeing Blogs: The Carnegie UK Trust works to improve personal, community and societal wellbeing. Many of the issues that we work on, and the partners and groups... Read More

Beyond silos, egos and logos

By Avila Kilmurray

13 May 2020

Reaching beyond ‘silos, egos and logos’ was the challenge that Neal Lawson of Compass threw out to activists in Northern Ireland. A webinar on 28 April, ‘Empowering Voices in... Read More

Work with all members of our society to #BuildBackBetter

By Katy Goldstraw, John Diamond

12 May 2020

The unprecedented challenges created by the global COVID-19 pandemic have brought about many examples of human kindness, compassion and value-driven policy responses. Painted rainbows in windows across the country... Read More

Crisis conversations – Reset #2: learning as we go for long term transition

By Andrew Simms

07 May 2020

In the debate over the global response to Covid19 a battle of hashtags has broken out between those urging a quick return to ‘normal’, and those saying that ‘normal’... Read More

Talking Points: April 2020

By Rethinking Poverty

06 May 2020

Life continues to be dominated by coronavirus. This month’s Talking Points focuses mainly on the all-important question of ‘what next?’ Has the market economy had its day? Will we... Read More

The business we want? Businesses respond to the COVID-19 crisis

By Gemma Lawrence

05 May 2020

We recently looked at the ‘explosion in citizen-led action in response to the coronavirus pandemic’. This week, we look at how some businesses have responded to the crisis. In... Read More

Crisis conversations – Reset #1: learning as we go for long term transition

By Andrew Simms

30 Apr 2020

How quickly the brain adapts to the new normal – Emily Maitlis, BBC Newsnight, 25/03/2020 In late 2018 the Rapid Transition Alliance launched with the purpose of building a... Read More

From many Yeses to one big Yes: towards a global Green New Deal

By Caroline Hartnell

29 Apr 2020

‘Only a crisis – actual or perceived – produces real change. When that crisis occurs, the actions that are taken depend on the ideas that are lying around. That,... Read More

A divided county

By Ben Cooper

27 Apr 2020

In 2019, the electoral landscape of Yorkshire and the Humber changed dramatically. Nine Labour seats went to the Tories, who won the most votes in the region for the... Read More

Mid-Covid, Universal Basic Income now doesn’t look idealistic, but realistic

By The Alternative UK

24 Apr 2020

From our beginning, we’ve identified Universal Basic Income as a foundational policy for A/UK – as a way to ground active citizenship, encourage creative living, redistribute wealth and collectively... Read More

A minimum income guarantee – for now and forever

By Caroline Hartnell

22 Apr 2020

Last week, we covered New Economics Foundation’s (NEF’s) first weekly economics briefing which looked at how we can win the economic recovery after coronavirus. This week’s focused on ‘Fixing... Read More

Kindness in a crisis

By Ben Thurman

21 Apr 2020

COVID-19 and Wellbeing Blogs: The Carnegie UK Trust works to improve personal, community and societal wellbeing. Many of the issues that we work on, and the partners and groups... Read More

A safety net for all

By Sarah Arnold

20 Apr 2020

The Minimum Income Guarantee would make sure no one falls through the gaps in our social security system. Yesterday the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) revealed that nearly one... Read More

Civil Society and Covid-19

By Sue Tibballs

17 Apr 2020

“Neighbourhoods are the cells which keep society whole. We are threatened with infections, from outside and from within; our powers of resistance and eventual recovery depend largely on whether... Read More

Want to keep a city participating in Dagenham, or citizens assembling in Paris?

By The Alternative UK

16 Apr 2020

Coronavirus, and its strange distancing, compels us all to rethink how we come together. Our mutual care and sense of collective responsibility is expressed by NOT being physically close,... Read More

Can we win the recovery?

By Caroline Hartnell

15 Apr 2020

New Economics Foundation (NEF) will be holding Weekly Economics Briefings to discuss challenges the coronavirus crisis poses to progressives — from analysing policy decisions to highlighting the organising being done in... Read More

5 ways coronavirus could help humanity survive the ecological crisis

By Matt Mellen

09 Apr 2020

This pandemic is a further wake up call things need to radically change and many of the emergency measures help the planet too The human tragedy of the coronavirus... Read More

Talking Points: March 2020  

By Rethinking Poverty

08 Apr 2020

Since the last Talking Points went out, our world has been completely turned upside down. The country is in lockdown. Nothing is certain. March Talking Points is inevitably focused... Read More

#BuildBackBetter

By Barry Knight

07 Apr 2020

What does it mean to ‘build back better?’ Coronavirus has changed our world forever. Plans made a few weeks ago seem outdated at best or undoable at worst. The... Read More

Social movements in times of pandemic: the moment for philanthropy has arrived

By Romy Krämer, Graciela Hopstein and Halima Mahomed

02 Apr 2020

The global Corona pandemic might very well be the biggest crisis of our lifetime. The current situation has the potential to not only disrupt the status quo but to... Read More

Community responses to Covid-19

By Gemma Lawrence

01 Apr 2020

The last few weeks have seen an explosion in citizen-led action in response to the coronavirus pandemic. Last week, we looked at the 1000s of Covid-19 Mutual Aid groups... Read More

How should we talk about COVID-19?

By Uplift

31 Mar 2020

These are uncertain and challenging times for people trying to push for progressive, people-first solutions to the crisis presented to us by COVID-19. Being deliberate in the way in... Read More

Will individualism survive the Coronavirus?

By Stuart Cartland

26 Mar 2020

The current national and global crisis in which we find ourselves has exposed the myth that a society based upon individualism can work, flourish and be sustainable. We can... Read More

Nine things I’ve noticed this week

By Julia Unwin

25 Mar 2020

We’ve known that a global pandemic would come for decades, and it’s been modelled and planned for time after time. But when it comes it’s a massive and terrifying... Read More

We are nothing if we are not together

By Neil McInroy

24 Mar 2020

The Covid-19 pandemic has destabilised our present and will profoundly affect our social, economic and political future. Whilst we do not know how events will progress, we can be sure that things will never be the same again. There will be no going back. The... Read More

What does Covid-19 mean for people restricted by poverty?

By Helen Barnard

23 Mar 2020

As we come to terms with what Coronavirus could mean for us and our families, we urge the Government to keep people who are restricted by low incomes front of... Read More

This changes everything

By Neal Lawson

20 Mar 2020

Most of us have experienced nothing like this before. It is strange, forbidding and dislocating to a degree probably only experienced by those alive in the early 1940s. Events... Read More

Charging migrants to use the NHS is a public health threat

By Daniel Button

19 Mar 2020

During a pandemic, the last thing we should be doing is putting more barriers in the way of access to healthcare. Rishi Sunak has announced increases to the Immigration... Read More

Over 900 Covid Mutual Aid groups set up across the UK

By Rethinking Poverty

18 Mar 2020

Over 900 local groups have now been established across the UK to provide support to people throughout the covid-19 outbreak. A spokesperson for Covid-19 Mutual Aid UK said: ‘In... Read More

This small German town took back the power – and went fully renewable

By Bertie Russell

18 Mar 2020

The case for ambitious and transformative environmental policy is being made with increasing fervour and a series of “Green New Deals” – a reference to Roosevelt’s economic reform programme... Read More

Talking Points: February 2020  

By Rethinking Poverty

11 Mar 2020

There has been so much bad news on poverty in February that it sadly has to be the top story in this month’s Talking Points. We also offer a... Read More

Moving beyond Brexit: an agenda for national renewal

By Miatta Fahnbulleh

04 Mar 2020

The vote to leave the EU should have been a wakeup call. Instead, we’re three years on and little has changed. Brexit is making it harder to deal with our economic and... Read More

Reducing inequality in Oxford: what progress is being made?

By Caroline Hartnell

28 Feb 2020

Almost a year ago, on 1 March 2019, I met with a group of people from Oxford – city council officials, an elected councillor and staff of social enterprise... Read More

Flatpack Democracy 2.0

By The Alternative UK

19 Feb 2020

We are very pleased to bring you news of Flatpack Democracy 2.0 (buy here). This is the compendious update to the original booklet from Peter Macfadyen, ex-mayor of the... Read More

Taking back control of the innovation economy

By Isaac Stanley

13 Feb 2020

A fairer innovation economy won’t come as a gift from the powers that be. This week we launch a new phase of our Everyone Makes Innovation Policy programme, in... Read More

Talking Points: January 2020

By Rethinking Poverty

05 Feb 2020

On 23 January, the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists announced that the ‘Doomsday Clock’ has moved 20 seconds closer to midnight – the closest it has come to signalling a... Read More

The time we’re owed

By Aidan Harper

29 Jan 2020

Are we ​‘owed’ more leisure time? We live in an economy which systematically extracts from us the time we have: in exchange for wages we give employers labour, effort, and... Read More

A “local economic blueprint” for Totnes could inspire other places to maximise their renewable assets

By The Alternative UK

22 Jan 2020

Much inspiration to be had from Totnes over the years – birthplace of Transition Towns, for example. Like many, their council has declared a climate emergency – but unlike... Read More

‘Sorry we missed you’ reveals the sorry state of our society

By Barry Knight

15 Jan 2020

‘I feel in complete shock. At the end I thought my heart had stopped.’ So read a text sent by a friend of mine as she left the cinema... Read More

Talking Points looks back on 2019

By Rethinking Poverty

08 Jan 2020

2019 has been a tumultuous year. While poverty and inequality continued their inexorable rise, the climate crisis finally erupted on to the national agenda. At the same time solutions... Read More

The society we want: next steps for Rethinking Poverty

By Caroline Hartnell and Barry Knight

07 Jan 2020

What is the society we want? There is widespread agreement across the political spectrum that capitalism is in crisis and we need a new way of doing things. ‘Read the... Read More

Tyne & Wear Citizens launches listening campaign

By Barry Knight

18 Dec 2019

In December 2018, Barry Knight attended Tyne & Wear Citizens AGM, describing it as the ‘most remarkable meeting he had ever attended’. A year later, he attended the 2019... Read More

Our ‘turn around’ towns are re-imagining the future

By Issy Petrie

11 Dec 2019

What will our towns be like in ten years’ time? And how about in 100 years? As we begin a decade that will bring significant change to the UK,... Read More

The #hullwewant goes to Russia

By Barry Knight, Maria Chertok, Natasha Kaminarskaya

10 Dec 2019

What does Hull, a city on the eastern seaboard of England, have in common with provincial cities in Russia?  Answer: not only have they been left behind by economic... Read More

Talking Points: November 2019 

By Rethinking Poverty

04 Dec 2019

This month’s Talking Points focuses on the way our economy works: the role of business in society, Wales’s ground-breaking Foundational Economy model, and the primacy of the local, for... Read More

A stitch in time saves nine: Learning from Blackpool

By Barry Knight

27 Nov 2019

Important lessons emerged from a one-day conference ‘Transforming Blackpool together: how evidence is changing our town’, held at the Blackpool Winter Gardens on 14 November. Frank Oberklaid, a paediatrician... Read More

Work less to help the climate? How a shorter work week can cut emissions

By Anupam Nanda

22 Nov 2019

The idea of a four-day working week is gaining traction. Recently, several high-profile companies have trialled reduced hours. And in the UK, the Labour Party has pledged a 32-hour four day work... Read More

Wales to trial ‘experimental’ Foundation Economy approach

By Thomas Barrett

20 Nov 2019

This article, by Thomas Barrett, was originally published on NewStart, a website for making places better. Subscribe for just £49 per year here. Wales will be the first country in the... Read More

Breaking From Tradition – Why We Must Embrace The National Performance Framework

By Anna Fowlie

13 Nov 2019

To coincide with the 10 year anniversary of the publication of the Report by the Commission on the Measurement of Economic Performance and Social Progress, the Carnegie UK Trust... Read More

Talking Points: October 2019

By Rethinking Poverty

06 Nov 2019

This month’s Talking Points looks at a variety of ideas for improving people’s lives – from good architecture to kindness and a newly woven social fabric. We also look... Read More

The Green New Deal: can we afford NOT to pay for it?

By Caroline Hartnell

06 Nov 2019

On the 4 November, economist Ann Pettifor was speaking at the London School of Economics. ‘The Case for the Green New Deal’ was the title of her fascinating talk,... Read More

Webinars explore 45° Change: Where bottom up meets top down

By Global Fund for Community Foundations

01 Nov 2019

The upcoming “Pathways to Power” Symposium aims to take discussions around #ShiftThePower to the next stage by developing strategies to make the idea a reality. One promising approach is... Read More

Shifting the fundamentals

By Claire McCarthy

30 Oct 2019

The world of work is changing. The work of the Changing Work Centre and the Commission on Workers and Technology demonstrates that. For many that brings a sense of... Read More

Does “The Wigan Deal” anticipate a more radical future?

By The Alternative UK

23 Oct 2019

 “The Wigan Deal” beats austerity by putting unique human relationships at the core. Does it anticipate a more radical future too? This affecting, even moving video above comes... Read More

Our future depends on co-operation

By Ed Mayo

16 Oct 2019

It is a time of great distraction. Our plans to leave the European Union are burning, our government is fiddling with its leadership and, while it makes for news... Read More

Talking Points: September 2019

By Rethinking Poverty

09 Oct 2019

This month’s Talking Points looks at rising poverty and inequality and what can be done about it – from reforming Universal Credit to introducing UBS/UBI, taxing wealth more, and... Read More

Too little, too late? Reflections on the 20 September climate strike

By Caroline Hartnell

02 Oct 2019

The introductory statement to the UN Climate Action Summit on 23 September 2019 makes chilling reading, though it insists that there are still solutions available: ‘The last four years... Read More

45° Change shows the way

By Jon Edwards

25 Sep 2019

The core premise of Neal Lawson’s ‘45° Change’ is that the post-1945 welfare state approach to dealing with societal challenges has broken down. The neoliberal, market-driven system that has... Read More

Reinventing social services

By Bob Rhodes

18 Sep 2019

As part of its Manifesto for Social Care Reform, the Centre Welfare Reform proposes a radical reinvention of social services and the reintegration and refocusing of social work on... Read More

Talking Points: July/August 2019

By Rethinking Poverty

11 Sep 2019

This month’s Talking Points ranges widely from US companies’ new professed purpose of improving our society to a change of direction at Joseph Rowntree Foundation, ideas for transforming public... Read More

Road Map to a Green New Deal: From Extraction to Stewardship

By Mathew Lawrence

03 Sep 2019

Executive summary Tinkering at the margins of an economic model driving environmental breakdown is guaranteed to deepen the climate emergency. To thrive, only a systemic response to a systems... Read More

Who has the power to restore nature?

By Chris Williams

28 Aug 2019

The UK’s 25 year environment plan — to lead the world in the ​‘natural capital approach’ — contains many bold statements about the capacity of this approach to produce positive change for nature. One aim is... Read More

Reflections on the Community Wealth Building Summit

By the CLES team

21 Aug 2019

Last week CLES hosted the second annual Community Wealth Building Summit, the only event like it in the UK and the largest event in CLES’ history. The 200-strong delegate... Read More

The big picture

By Fran Bennett

14 Aug 2019

This ‘Poverty and social security: where next?’ blog series has given valuable pointers about what a future government should do to mend social security and tackle poverty over the... Read More

How ‘meanwhile use’ is opening doors in declining high streets

By Thomas Barrett

07 Aug 2019

We are all familiar with the gaps in high streets left as stores close. This article from New Start describes a pilot scheme called Open Doors, to be launched later this year,... Read More

Wellbeing as economic steer – New Zealand leading the pack (again)?

By Lukasz Krebel

01 Aug 2019

Today the ONS has published its latest GDP statistics, showing that UK GDP grew by 0.3% in the three months to May 2019. This monthly release typically attracts widespread media... Read More

Housing in 2040

By Sally Thomas

29 Jul 2019

Reflections from the 2019 annual conference of the Scottish Federation of Housing Associations (SFHA) Our annual conference looked at the future of housing, focusing on our tenants, homes, communities... Read More

An Enabling State: it’s time to recognise community power

By Hannah Ormston

25 Jul 2019

Now, perhaps more than ever, our peer-to-peer interactions, social networks and relationships, matter. The importance of personal agency and control in the decisions that affect our lives should not... Read More

Breaking Ground

By Sally Witcher

23 Jul 2019

How would you design a new social security system from scratch? Not an opportunity that comes along every day, so probably not a question many have devoted time to... Read More

A Network Of Hope?

By Dr Hugh Ellis

18 Jul 2019

It might not be immediately obvious why anyone would want to have a relationship with a planner let alone an organisation dedicated to promoting the values of a planning... Read More

Forty years of bumpy road

By Barry Knight

16 Jul 2019

This article is based on a talk to the Voluntary Action History Society on 10 June 2019. Arthur Marwick said that a society without an understanding of its history... Read More

How to live better together

By Barry Knight and Colin Greer

10 Jul 2019

The unseen driver of our troubles causes no pain. But it is quietly destroying you and me. What is it? We reckon that most of you will have thought... Read More

Talking Points: June 2019 

By Rethinking Poverty

09 Jul 2019

This month’s Talking Points reflects on the causes of inequality and puts forward some suggestions for tackling poverty rather than just more ‘bad news’. We also look at the... Read More

The best investment

By Louisa McGeehan

02 Jul 2019

If a future government wants to tackle poverty, its first priority should be child poverty. Growing up in poverty steals away children’s life chances – poorer children are likely... Read More

Making the European project heroic again

By Pierre Calame

26 Jun 2019

The European Union has seen globalization in narrow economic terms as the creation of a single global market rather than the irreversible, interdependent relationships between the world’s societies and... Read More

Building communities for the Scotland we want

By Barry Knight

24 Jun 2019

What follows is the text of a speech given by Barry Knight at a conference of the Scottish Federation of Housing Associations (SFHA) on 12 June 2019. The speech... Read More

Major repairs

By Stephen Timms

19 Jun 2019

An incoming Labour government will be confronted with the severe problems currently facing claimants grappling with universal credit. What will the Labour party need to do to put social... Read More

Climate justice and social justice must go together

By Stephen Pittam

18 Jun 2019

In April I attended Ariadne’s annual meeting in Belfast. Ariadne is a European peer-to-peer network of over 600 funders and philanthropists who support social change and human rights. Participants... Read More

Reporting on poverty: why the tone matters

By Manny Hothi

11 Jun 2019

Is the angry and exasperated tone of Phillip Alston’s report on poverty in the UK counter-productive? Let’s compare this with responses to climate change. For years David Attenborough and... Read More

Talking Points: May 2019

By Rethinking Poverty

05 Jun 2019

A big story this month is the launch of a new review of inequality in the UK, but will it make a difference? Discussion of the four-day (or shorter)... Read More

Back to school: some personal reflections on Losing Control and CTRLshift

By Mark Wilkinson

04 Jun 2019

In this blog, Mark Wilkinson, Losing Control advisory council member, reflects on the Losing Control conference in February, CTRLshift: an emergency summit for change in May, and the way community groups in towns and... Read More

Alternative Editorial: CTRLshifts into next gear

By Indra Adnan

30 May 2019

CTRLshift is all about ‘shifting control’ from national-level political parties and corporations to the people and organisations collaborating in towns, cities and regions – very much the agenda of... Read More

Three points to keep in mind when you talk about poverty

By John Veit-Wilson

28 May 2019

Poverty is growing in the UK, and it’s not only that more people are suffering, but the hurts and indignities they suffer are getting worse. Much of this avoidable... Read More

Reimagining the Economy: The Social Justice Enterprise

By Aaron Tanaka

23 May 2019

Editors’ note: In this article, Aaron Tanaka, director of the Center for Economic Democracy and cofounder of the Boston Ujima Project, envisions a new approach for economic development that is... Read More

Wellbeing: a guiding star for governments?

By Caroline Hartnell

21 May 2019

The devolved governments of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have all three put wellbeing at the heart of their approach – codifying their values and goals within wellbeing frameworks... Read More

Commanding public confidence

By Claire Ainsley

16 May 2019

For people living in poverty in the UK, the workings of the social security system are too often part of the problem, not part of the solution. People will... Read More

The importance of losing control if we are to #ShiftThePower

By Kim Soliman and Laura Ross Gakava

14 May 2019

For two days in February we were welcomed to ‘Losing Control’, a gathering of like-minded folk seeking to connect, inspire, debate and conspire about how to lose control. As... Read More

Is protest the new form of politics? Tyne & Wear Citizens offer a different model

By Barry Knight

08 May 2019

Barry Knight attends an assembly of Tyne & Wear Citizens to meet the candidates in the North of Tyne mayoral elections Something is stirring. A new populism is on... Read More

Talking Points: April 2019

By Rethinking Poverty

01 May 2019

 The big development this month is the re-emergence of the Green New Deal in the UK, offering a way forward to address poverty, inequality and climate change. Also this... Read More

Out there is in here: the importance of systems change

By Caroline Hartnell

24 Apr 2019

Systems change is an area Rethinking Poverty intends to look at in a systematic way, examining some of the key concepts such as emergence and design, equifinality, etc. While... Read More

Communities in control: a local democracy laboratory

By Roy Payne

16 Apr 2019

The government’s new Working with Communities policy is important because it establishes the principle of ‘community consent’ to long-term planning decisions affecting the local community. This has the potential... Read More

Eradicating poverty and tackling climate change are inextricably linked

By Caroline Hartnell

10 Apr 2019

I have been very aware for a while that Rethinking Poverty should be including climate change in its focus. But a gut feeling about the interconnectedness of everything isn’t... Read More

Talking Points: March 2019

By Rethinking Poverty

03 Apr 2019

New economic models feature prominently in this month’s Talking Points. The publication of new reports from NEF and Compass has revived the debate about universal basic income vs universal... Read More

Creating a shared vision to reduce inequality in Oxford

By Caroline Hartnell

28 Mar 2019

On 1 March I met with a group of people from Oxford – city council officials, an elected councillor and staff of social enterprise Aspire Oxford – to talk... Read More

Missing Morality

By Reverend Paul Nicolson

26 Mar 2019

I am delighted to make this politically independent contribution to debate the left’s poverty and social security agenda in the 2020s. I work without allegiance to any political party,... Read More

The Blackpool We Want For Our Children

By Barry Knight

22 Mar 2019

What follows is the text of a speech given by Barry Knight at a one-day conference in Blackpool on 22 March 2019. The objective of the conference was to... Read More

The great sale of public land – a fire sale for our times

By Peter Hetherington

20 Mar 2019

Here Peter Hetherington reviews Brett Christophers’ new book on enclosure in neoliberal Britain. Jason Hickel’s blog, posted yesterday, also focuses on enclosure and the role it has played as the engine... Read More

Degrowth: A call for radical abundance

By Jason Hickel

19 Mar 2019

What do we need for a good society and a sustainable future? We need to de-enclose social goods and restore the commons, so that people can access the things they need... Read More

A female face

By Mary-Ann Stephenson

14 Mar 2019

Our social security system is not working. A succession of cuts and changes over the last eight years have left a fifth of the population (more than 14 million people)... Read More

Derwenthorpe: can a successful community be planned?

By Steven Burkeman

12 Mar 2019

In 1901, Joseph Rowntree began creating what was to become the village of New Earswick, 2½ miles north of York. Today, New Earswick is a thriving mixed community of... Read More

Talking Points: February 2019

By Rethinking Poverty

06 Mar 2019

Is the zeitgeist changing? While the beginning of February saw a spate of calls for the rich to pay more taxes, the end of the month has seen a... Read More

Money and its uses

By Donald Burling

27 Feb 2019

Rethinking Poverty encourages its readers to contribute their thoughts so that we can all engage in developing the society we want. Here we publish an article by Donald Burling... Read More

Why we need an inclusive economy

By David Burch and Neil McInroy

20 Feb 2019

From time to time a new policy concept emerges, which seems to capture the mood and desire for a certain type of change. Today in economic development that phrase... Read More

Universal Credit: the welfare reform pushing people into hardship

By Rachel Gregory

14 Feb 2019

Universal Credit is hailed as the biggest welfare reform since the welfare state was introduced. While support exists for the principles behind its introduction – simplifying the legacy benefits... Read More

Talking Points: January 2019

By Rethinking Poverty

05 Feb 2019

Why is inequality increasing? Because the rich aren’t paying their way A discussion panel at the recent Davos World Economic Forum became a sensation after a Dutch historian took... Read More

Community wealth building – what is it all about?

By Caroline Hartnell

30 Jan 2019

What is community wealth building? On the one hand, it seems like a new idea. The Labour Party established its Community wealth building Unit less than a year ago,... Read More

Supporting local initiatives: the state we need

By Caroline Hartnell and Barry Knight

23 Jan 2019

Here, we follow up the article by Neal Lawson and Caroline Hartnell on ‘45 Degree Change’ and examine initiatives identified by Aditya Chakrabortty in a series of articles called... Read More

How a derelict swimming pool became one of Birmingham’s most treasured community hubs

By Thomas Barrett

16 Jan 2019

Another great example of how an area can be transformed when the city council works closely with local residents at every stage of a regeneration project, led by ‘what... Read More

Talking Points looks back on 2018

By Rethinking Poverty

09 Jan 2019

Deepening poverty and inequality Gordon Brown provides what seems like a fitting epitaph for the year. ‘I’m seeing poverty I didn’t think I would ever see again in my... Read More

Powering a good society

By Barry Knight

03 Jan 2019

Last year was a bad year for anti-poverty campaigners. Poverty rose significantly and yet the government summarily dismissed reports from the UN and JRF. If we are to produce... Read More

Thoughts on a good society

By Katy Goldstraw

19 Dec 2018

Current discussion of a good society takes place in a period of profound global change, and there is no agreement about what a good society would look like. In... Read More

Tyne and Wear Citizens shows the way

By Barry Knight

12 Dec 2018

In all my years of working with voluntary organisations and community groups, I have never been to an AGM like it. The room is packed, the energy high, the... Read More

Talking Points: November 2018

By Rethinking Poverty

05 Dec 2018

The UN report on poverty in the UK … The big event in the area of poverty this month has to be Philip Alston’s damning report on poverty in... Read More

A Northern Soul – a story of a striver with a happy ending

By Barry Knight and Caroline Hartnell

28 Nov 2018

Moved, humbled, inspired, sad, angry – these are some of our feelings after watching A Northern Soul, a film by Hull-born documentary-maker Sean McAllister, shown on BBC2 on Sunday 18... Read More

45 Degree Change: where bottom up meets top down

By Neal Lawson and Caroline Hartnell

21 Nov 2018

We want to change the world.  Of course that means ending poverty and stopping climate change. The problem is, though, we really don’t know how to do it.  Two... Read More

Real Estate Radio show meets #thehullwewant

By Gill Hughes and Sarah Hatfield

15 Nov 2018

We are Gill Hughes of the University of Hull’s Youth Work and Community Development team and Sarah Hatfield from Timebank. Together, we convene the #thehullwewant project. The project is... Read More

Talking Points: October 2018

By Rethinking Poverty

07 Nov 2018

March Talking Points featured a heading: ‘A big shift in the economy needed – but where are the ideas?’ In June we asked: ‘Why are there no ideas “lying... Read More

Principles for a Good Society

By Ghiyas Somra

24 Oct 2018

Rethinking Poverty advocates a move away from ‘top-down approaches drawing on the views of professional experts’ such as the bottom-up approach 45 Degree Change and actually hearing from the communities... Read More

Shocking similarity between UK poverty in 2018 and around 1900

By Pat Thane

17 Oct 2018

Surveying British history since 1900 for my new book Divided Kingdom. A History of Britain, 1900 to the Present, my most shocking discovery was that the extent and causes... Read More

#ShiftThePower: how are we doing two years on?

By Jenny Hodgson

10 Oct 2018

Regular readers of the Rethinking Poverty blog and our Twitter followers may have noticed frequent mentions of #ShiftThePower and #TheHullWeWant – and may well have wondered what these have... Read More

Talking Points: September 2018

By Rethinking Poverty

03 Oct 2018

Ten years on from the crash and nothing learned Ten years on from the collapse of Lehman Brothers on 15 September 2008, there has been a bevy of articles... Read More

Creating a new narrative for a good society – lessons from Letchworth

By Rethinking Poverty, Compass, TCPA, University of Hull, UCL

26 Sep 2018

What would a good society look like and how can we achieve it? As described in yesterday’s blog, a small group of people got together in Letchworth Garden City... Read More

What could planning contribute to a good society?

By Rethinking Poverty, Compass, TCPA, University of Hull, UCL

25 Sep 2018

A small group of people got together in Letchworth Garden City on 26 and 27 July. With UK politics in a worse state than perhaps ever before, the aim... Read More

Government and charities don’t do enough to give people power

By Julia Unwin

14 Sep 2018

Scrapping top-down attempts at building a good society and shifting the power to those people who we seek to help are some of the main ideas put forward by Barry... Read More

Talking Points: August 2018

By Rethinking Poverty

04 Sep 2018

The government’s new Civil Society Strategy … August has seen the launch of the government’s new Civil Society Strategy. Civil Society Media quotes Jeremy Wright, the culture secretary: ‘Our... Read More

The Development Set and its role in perpetuating poverty

By Gerry Salole

29 Aug 2018

  ‘Although we move with the better classes, our thoughts are always with the masses.’ (Ross Coggins, 1976) In 1976, an exasperated development worker, Ross Coggins, attending his umpteenth... Read More

Talking Points: July 2018

By Rethinking Poverty

14 Aug 2018

Child poverty is worsening Child poverty is soaring, says NPC chief executive Dan Corry in a recent Guardian article. Resolution Foundation analysis suggests that child poverty has risen from 1.6... Read More

How ‘good help’ can help to transform lives

By Caroline Hartnell

07 Aug 2018

What is ‘good help’? According to a new report published by OSCA and NESTA, Good and bad help: How purpose and confidence transform lives, ‘good help’ is help that... Read More

If knowing the facts reduced poverty, it would be all over by now

By Barry Knight

24 Jul 2018

Barry Knight reviews Poverty: The facts (6th edition) by Alan Marsh, with Karen Barker, Carla Ayrton, Morag Treanor and Moussa Haddad (Child Poverty Action Group, 2017) and The New... Read More

Talking Points: June 2018

By Rethinking Poverty

17 Jul 2018

Plight of poor people worsening … June has produced plenty of bad news on this front. Analysis by the Centre for Social Justice, a right-wing think-tank, shows that the wages... Read More

Rethinking poverty, rethinking data

By Michael Weatherburn

12 Jun 2018

The publication of Barry Knight’s Rethinking Poverty: What makes a good society? (2017) no doubt raised eyebrows when its author suggested that one of the most effective ways to... Read More

Talking Points: May 2018

By Rethinking Poverty

06 Jun 2018

How can funders help develop the kind of civil society we need? How can funders support development of a civil society that will provide ‘a creative response to everything... Read More

Universal basic services – is this the answer to poverty?

By Caroline Hartnell

29 May 2018

‘Focusing on basic services, such as housing, food, communications and transport, is, we conclude, far more effective at driving down the cost of living than spending the same money... Read More

Are we dancing on the edge?

By Barry Knight

21 May 2018

Beatrice Webb’s observation that poverty has little to do with individual sloth and everything to do with economic mismanagement and social structure led to systematic government action to regulate... Read More

‘How do we solve poverty if all your jobs depend on it?’ Barry Knight goes on a poverty safari

By Barry Knight

16 May 2018

The title of this article is taken from a quotation from Poverty Safari by Darren McGarvey – better known as the rapper Loki. Based on his experience of growing... Read More

Universal Basic Income – not the answer to poverty

By Chris Goulden

11 May 2018

Universal basic income (UBI), or citizens’ basic income, is one of the ideas put forward in Barry Knight’s book Rethinking Poverty: What makes a good society? as a ‘promising area for... Read More

Talking Points: April 2018

By Rethinking Poverty

08 May 2018

Why is wealth inequality soaring? By 2030 the richest 1 per cent will own two-thirds of global wealth. Dominic Frisby offers 10 reasons why this is happening in the... Read More

How can we bring child poverty to an end? Caroline Hartnell attended the launch of CPAG’s new book

By Caroline Hartnell

03 May 2018

Why do we value children so little? This question was posed by Ingrid Wolfe, consultant in children’s public health medicine and director of the Evelina London Child Health Partnership,... Read More

Rethinking Poverty: Towards the Webb Legacy – a summary

By Caroline Hartnell

24 Apr 2018

Barry Knight’s book Rethinking Poverty:What makes a good society? was published last September, eliciting a wide range of responses, published on the Rethinking Poverty blog. Barry’s new paper, summarised... Read More

Talking Points: March 2018

By Rethinking Poverty

04 Apr 2018

A big shift in the economy needed – but where are the ideas? ‘Reflective Corbynites and thoughtful Conservatives are agreed on one thing—the time is ripe for a big... Read More

Can Rachel Reeves’ ‘everyday economy’ replace the neoliberal consensus?

By Caroline Hartnell

29 Mar 2018

‘Since 1945 Britain has experienced two models of political economy,’ said Rachel Reeves, MP for Leeds West, launching her new pamphlet, The Everyday Economy, at The Trampery in London... Read More

Both/and not either/or: we need to rethink poverty AND rethink politics

By Caroline Hartnell

26 Mar 2018

‘If the crucial issue is how to ensure adequate resources for all, why are we asked to discuss the ‘Good Life’ at all?’ writes John Veit-Wilson. ‘… what they... Read More

There have been important successes in our attempts to end poverty

By Reverend Paul Nicolson

23 Mar 2018

The main point of Barry Knight’s book is that ‘our efforts to end poverty over the past 75 years have failed’. I disagree. There have been some significant successes.... Read More

A little less conversation a little more action please!

By Sara Bryson

21 Mar 2018

The persistence of poverty, it seems to me, continues because we fail to tackle a central crucial issue: power. We have centuries of writing, analysis and debate in relation... Read More

We need knowledge and leadership for a good society

By Nat O’Connor

19 Mar 2018

Barry Knight, and others, are right to move beyond the word ‘poverty’. It is a loaded term and people carry so many preconceptions into any conversation on poverty that... Read More

This isn’t rethinking poverty

By John Veit-Wilson

14 Mar 2018

In response to Barry Knight’s invitation to give feedback on his recent article ‘Rethinking Poverty: Towards the Webb Legacy’, I’m puzzled why there isn’t more emphasis on asking why... Read More

Rethinking Poverty: Towards the Webb Legacy

By Barry Knight

07 Mar 2018

Purpose of this paper This paper has two goals. The first is to learn from reactions to the publication of Rethinking Poverty given during a wide range of public... Read More

Talking Points: January/February 2018

By Rethinking Poverty

07 Mar 2018

New Guardian series on alternative economics ‘It’s time to take on the zombies’ is the title of the first article in Aditya Chakrabortty’s new fortnightly series called ‘The Alternatives’... Read More

Talking about poverty – is being careful about language enough

By Caroline Hartnell

01 Mar 2018

‘The problem with the word poverty is that it embodies so many negatives,’ said journalist Stephen Armstrong, author of The New Poverty, speaking at Joseph Rowntree Foundation’s (JRF) ‘Talking... Read More

Rethinking Poverty – Chris Goulden draws parallels with new research from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation

By Chris Goulden

01 Mar 2018

I completely agree with the book’s aspiration for us all to think differently about poverty. That’s also the foundation of new JRF research from the Frameworks Institute that seeks... Read More

Mapping a new way to the society we want

By Peter Hetherington

26 Feb 2018

Peter Hetherington finds compelling arguments in a recent book challenging preconceived ideas about the role and responsibility of government and the assumptions of both the political right and left.... Read More

Poverty eradication is a ‘vaste programme’

By Bassma Kodmani

22 Feb 2018

I started to highlight the sentences that inspired me, as I often do, with the intention of citing Barry Knight’s Rethinking Poverty in my own lectures or writings, but... Read More

Rethinking Poverty: The Webb Legacy

By Rethinking Poverty

19 Dec 2017

After more than 70 years, the Webb Memorial Trust will close at the end of 2017. This follows a decision in 2010 to spend down the endowment of the... Read More

Event Report: Rethinking Poverty – Greater Manchester Can Lead the Way

By Tom Skinner

19 Dec 2017

Reflections from Tom Skinner, Director of Greater Manchester Poverty Action We had a fantastic time at our Rethinking Poverty event last week, and I want to thank everyone who... Read More

Forces of agency – from young marketers to social movements

By Lisa Jordan

18 Dec 2017

Before getting into the heart of the Rethinking Poverty dialogue I want to first say ‘thank you’ to Barry Knight and the Webb Memorial Trust for helping me understand... Read More

Blending past insights with new ways of thinking – the role of wellbeing in social progress

By Jennifer Wallace

12 Dec 2017

Working for an organisation with a hundred-year history tends to change your perspective. While most analysis of the relationship between the state and citizens starts from the postwar social... Read More

Fairness: a basis for uniting people across class, gender, race, and other differences

By Albert Ruesga

11 Dec 2017

A doff of the hat to my colleague Barry Knight for his recent book, Rethinking Poverty: What Makes a Good Society? In the US, we live in a society where few... Read More

Living Wage campaign links community with politics and business

By Jessica Goble

17 Nov 2017

Living Wage campaign links community with politics and business, says Jessica Goble As a programme officer for the Living Wage Foundation, the point that most struck me from Rethinking... Read More

Rethinking Poverty? We shouldn’t throw the baby out with the bathwater

By Kate Green

15 Nov 2017

How to end poverty in rich countries has been the subject of much hand-wringing over the years. When the Webb Memorial Trust kicked off our programme of work in... Read More

Democracy is Alive: parallels between Rethinking Poverty and Constituent Voice

By David Bonbright

24 Oct 2017

Last month I attended a very British event at the London School of Economics. A hundred or so of us gathered in the Shaw Library, named after George Bernard... Read More

Gerry Salole reviews Rethinking Poverty: What makes a good society?

By Gerry Salole

19 Oct 2017

The title of this book, Rethinking Poverty – What makes a good society?, promises a theoretical treatise on the elimination, or reframing, of poverty and destitution in the UK.... Read More

New Statesman article: Reinventing the Welfare State

By Barry Knight

18 Oct 2017

This article was originally published in the New Statesman magazine and online How to reinvent the welfare state for a new political era: voters want both freedom and security... Read More

Poverty in the Netherlands – the challenges for philanthropists

By Bodille Arensman

18 Oct 2017

On 20 September 2017 the Erasmus Centre for Strategic Philanthropy (ECSP) organised a learning event on poverty for philanthropists in the Netherlands with the aim of discussing the challenges... Read More

Citizen’s Basic Income Trust’s review of Rethinking Poverty

By Rethinking Poverty

05 Oct 2017

This book offers a summary of a Webb Memorial Trust research programme that asks how we might construct a society without poverty rather than the slightly different question as... Read More

Four thoughts about the ‘poverty narrative’

By Keiran Goddard

04 Oct 2017

Rethinking Poverty argues that the ‘narrative around poverty is broken’ … and, assuming we want our social narratives to render experience with something like fidelity, it’s a claim that... Read More

The solutions lie in communities, the world over

By Jon Edwards

28 Sep 2017

The launch of Barry Knight’s book Rethinking Poverty has certainly acted as a catalyst for thinking and reflection. Although the emphasis in the book is on the crisis in... Read More

Rethinking ideology, a view from the US

By Christopher Harris

28 Sep 2017

  Joseph Stiglitz, the 2001 recipient of the Nobel Prize in Economics, has written for a long time about the failure of neoliberal economics and the resultant human suffering... Read More

A narrative that resonates for single parents

By Rosie Ferguson

26 Sep 2017

One in four families in the UK today is headed by a single parent, making them an everyday part of the fabric of our society.  We’ve become a much... Read More

WATCH: Commentary on the launch of Rethinking Poverty

By Rethinking Poverty

26 Sep 2017

We invited some attendees at the launch of Rethinking Poverty to share their thoughts on the messages that feature in the book. Read more from the Rethinking Poverty discussion forum: Starting... Read More

Forget “Global North” & “Global South” – when it comes to poverty, power and progress, it’s a global conversation

By Barry Knight

21 Sep 2017

As the first anniversary of the launch of the campaign to #ShiftThePower approaches, there are clear signs that people in the Global South are developing it creatively.  A prime example took... Read More

Importance of housing underestimated

By Paul Nicolson

21 Sep 2017

In Rethinking Poverty Barry Knight and the Webb Memorial Trust turned to participatory research to provide opportunities for ‘…individuals on low incomes to develop and express their own ideas’. They rightly... Read More

Starting a conversation – the launch of Rethinking Poverty

By Andrew Milner

21 Sep 2017

The Webb Memorial Trust launched the book Rethinking Poverty: What makes a good society? in the Shaw Library at the London School of Economics (LSE) on 13 September 2017.... Read More

WATCH: John Akinde perform ‘The Youth Will Not Die’ at Rethinking Poverty launch

By Rethinking Poverty

19 Sep 2017

John Akinde performs ‘The Youth Will Not Die’ at the launch of Rethinking Poverty, a new book by Barry Knight, Director of the Webb Memorial Trust. Find out more... Read More

Imagining a new future

By Stephen Pittam

15 Sep 2017

Gandhi recognised that there are limits to what protest can achieve in trying to change society. He was a strong advocate of the ‘constructive programme’. So, Barry Knight is... Read More

Poverty needs a new story

By Barry Knight

13 Sep 2017

Our society is drifting. Nowhere is this more evident than in the fight against poverty. Without an underlying story to guide action, progress has stalled. Around one-in-five of the... Read More

From paternalistic elites to participatory networks

By Neal Lawson

13 Sep 2017

  I try to love everyone and while I fail, I at least think everyone is lovable.  I know that every life is as valuable as any other and... Read More

Discover Society: Let’s talk about security and freedom

By Barry Knight

31 Aug 2017

This article was written for Discover Society Let’s talk about security and freedom We live by the stories we tell ourselves.  The most important storyline is how to live... Read More

Policy Press Blog: What’s next for poverty?

By Barry Knight

31 Aug 2017

In a blog for Policy Press, Barry Knight, Webb Memorial Trust Director asks: What’s next for poverty? Progress on poverty has stalled.  The proportion of people living in poverty... Read More

2017 Housing Perspectives – concluding thoughts: ‘We resolved crises of housing and poverty before, we can do it again’

By Richard Rawes

17 Feb 2017

In our final exclusive comment piece as part of the 75th anniversary of the Beveridge Report, Richard Rawes, chairman of the Webb Memorial Trust, says we can resolve the... Read More

2017 Housing Perspectives #14: ‘We need a diverse house building model to solve the housing crisis’

By Kate Henderson

16 Feb 2017

Government must support all kinds of house builders to build the homes we need, says Kate Henderson, the chief executive of the Town and Country Planning Association, in the... Read More

2017 Housing Perspectives #13: Standards in the private rented sector ‘must improve’

By Seb Klier

15 Feb 2017

Government must do more to protect the millions of people renting in the private sector, argues Seb Klier, from Generation Rent, in the latest of our exclusive articles compiled... Read More

2017 Housing Perspectives #12: ‘We must not leave our suburbs behind’

By Paul Hunter

09 Feb 2017

A suburban renaissance will be key to solving our housing crisis, says Paul Hunter from the Smith Institute, in the latest of our exclusive articles compiled as part of... Read More

2017 Housing Perspectives #11: ‘Time to make council housing a big part of the solution to the housing crisis’

By Martin Wheatley

08 Feb 2017

The building of new council homes should be a key part of solving our housing crisis, argues Martin Wheatley, from the campaign for social housing (SHOUT), in the latest... Read More

2017 Housing Perspectives #10: ‘Local solutions are needed for local problems’

By Jennifer Line

07 Feb 2017

In the latest of our exclusive articles compiled as part of the 75th anniversary of the Beveridge Report, Jennifer Line explores what community-led housing has to offer in response... Read More

2017 Housing Perspectives #9: ‘We must build communities, not just new homes’

By Ruth Davidson

07 Feb 2017

In the latest of our exclusive articles, compiled as part of the 75th anniversary of the Beveridge Report, Ruth Davidson from the National Housing Federation explains creating communities, and... Read More

2017 Housing Perspectives #8: ‘We must listen to children if we’re really going to tackle poverty’

By Rys Farthing

03 Feb 2017

The experiences of children in poverty should guide our approach to tackling poverty, argues Rys Farthing in the latest of our exclusive articles compiled as part of the 75th... Read More

2017 Housing Perspectives #7: ‘Unfolding before our eyes is a glaring missed opportunity to overcome the housing affordability crisis’

By Alice Martin

02 Feb 2017

In the latest of our exclusive articles compiled as part of the 75th anniversary of the Beveridge Report, Alice Martin argues the government needs to get smarter about selling... Read More

2017 Housing Perspectives #6: We must always remember our social purpose

By Terrie Alafat

01 Feb 2017

Terrie Alafat CBE, chief executive of the Chartered Institute of Housing, says the sector must do more to prepare for the challenges which lie ahead in the latest of... Read More

2017 Housing Perspectives #5: ‘More must be done to tackle fuel poverty’

By Sarah Daly

31 Jan 2017

‘More must be done to tackle fuel poverty’ 31/01/2017 Sarah Daly, director of strategic sustainability and partnerships, Sustainable Homes, says more must be done to end fuel poverty in... Read More

2017 Housing Perspectives #4: Housing policy proposals are ‘just tinkering with the problem’

By Duncan Bowie

30 Jan 2017

Duncan Bowie, senior lecturer in spatial planning at the University of Westminster, argues for a fundamental change in housing policy in the latest in a series of exclusive articles... Read More

2017 Housing Perspectives #3: ‘Intervention needed’ to reduce welfare bill without causing more poverty

By Toby Lloyd

27 Jan 2017

Toby Lloyd from Shelter explores the need for government intervention to reduce the welfare bill and tackle poverty in today’s exclusive article, compiled as part of the 75th anniversary... Read More

2017 Housing Perspectives #2: Growth of private sector renting and poverty ‘closely linked’

By Peter Kenway

26 Jan 2017

In today’s exclusive article, compiled as part of the 75th anniversary of the Beveridge Report, Peter Kenway from the New Policy Institute examines the relationship between the growth of... Read More

2017 Housing Perspectives #1: ‘Housing must be central to attempts to tackle poverty’

By Brian Robson

25 Jan 2017

In the first of a number of exclusive articles which shine a light on the link between poverty and housing, Brian Robson, from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, argues housing... Read More

Event Report: What is the future of social housing?

By Caroline Hartnell

21 Oct 2016

Most commentators now agree that the shortage of housing in the UK is reaching crisis proportions, with rental costs rising sharply and those on low incomes particularly seriously affected.... Read More

Whose responsibility is poverty?

By Barry Knight

30 Aug 2016

In October 2016 the New Statesman will publish its annual Webb Memorial Trust supplement. This year we explore the theme of agency; who has the understanding, responsibility, and power to bring about... Read More

Forging a Good Local Society

By Neil McInroy

27 Jul 2016

  For too long we have either turned a blind eye to poverty and disadvantage or hoped that a general rising tide of economic wealth would trickle down. The... Read More

Children’s Voices and Poverty

By Barry Knight

22 May 2016

Barry Knight, Director of the Webb Memorial Trust, contributed a chapter to Effective Philanthropy: Another Take published in April 2016 by Philanthropy for Social Justice and Peace to coincide with... Read More

What is the role of business in reducing poverty in the UK?

By Caroline Hartnell

13 May 2016

What is the role of business in reducing poverty? This was the question before a meeting hosted by the All Party Parliamentary Group on Poverty (APPG) and the Webb... Read More

Workshop Report: The Language of Poverty

By Georgia Smith

15 Mar 2016

The word ‘poverty’ features heavily in the lexicon of British politics. The Prime Minister has proposed an “all-out assault on poverty,” Labour MPs and peers recently campaigned hard to... Read More

Understanding and developing new language around poverty

By Abigail Scott Paul

15 Mar 2016

Abigail Scott Paul, JRF – Understanding and developing a new language around poverty in the UK  Abigail Scott Paul, Head of Engagement at the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, delivered the... Read More

Engaging with the public: What do the public think of us and how can we speak in ways that understand each other?

By Deborah Mattinson

15 Mar 2016

Deborah Mattinson, Britain Thinks – How to have an effective conversation with the public Deborah Mattinson, Founding Director of Britain Thinks, picked up the theme of public engagement. The... Read More

Kate Bell – Where next for anti-poverty campaigners?

By Kate Bell

15 Mar 2016

Kate bell – Where next for anti-poverty campaigners?  Next up Kate Bell drew on her experience as a former policy advisor to the Labour Party and coordinator with CPAG... Read More

The drivers: What drives public attitude towards welfare?

By Emily Fu

15 Mar 2016

Emily Fu, TNS BMRB – What drives public attitudes to welfare? Emily Fu, Associate Director at social research agency TNS BMRB, examined the emotional drivers of public attitudes towards... Read More

The debate: What are current sentiments towards poverty in the UK?

By Barry Knight

15 Mar 2016

Drawing on research conducted by YouGov, Director of the Webb Memorial Trust, Barry Knight, reflected on current sentiments towards poverty in the UK. He defined this as an area... Read More

Whose land is it anyway?

By Richard Rawes

18 Feb 2016

Richard Rawes, Chair of the Webb Memorial Trust, reflects on recent events at the Town and Country Planning Association, Institute of Economic Development and New Economics Foundation. The Trust... Read More

Business must spearhead action on decreasing in-work poverty

By  Barry Knight

29 Apr 2015

 A report launched today commissioned by the Webb Memorial Trust discusses how in-work poverty is the product of three variables: levels of pay, levels of in-work benefits, and the... Read More

Round the clock: In-work poverty and the hours question

By Rethinking Poverty

29 Apr 2015

Low-paid parents can be helped to overcome the greater barriers they face in striking the right balance for their families between work and parenting through better childcare support, more responsive... Read More

Conference Report: A Future Without Poverty

By Georgia Smith

24 Mar 2015

Detailed summary of 'A Future Without Poverty' cross-party conference organised by The Fabian Society and Bright Blue on 2nd March 2015 at the Hallam Conference Centre.

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A Future Without Poverty – Panel Discussion Summary

By Georgia Smith

24 Mar 2015

Panel Discussion: A future without poverty Chair: Oliver Wright, Whitehall correspondent, the Independent Charlie Elphicke MP, PPS to secretary of state for work and pensions Helen Goodman MP, shadow minister for... Read More

Event report: Young Voices

By Georgia Smith

23 Mar 2015

  An arresting start to the proceedings was provided by the Seasons Playhouse in Liverpool, ‘Young Voices’. Part of the Poverty Ends Now (PEN) initiative, the actors spoke brief... Read More

A Future Without Poverty – Question Time: Who has the best plan to tackle poverty?

By Georgia Smith

23 Mar 2015

Question Time: Who has the best plan to tackle poverty? Chair: Ian Birrell, contributing editor, Mail on Sunday Jeremy Browne MP, former Home Office minister Philip Collins, chief leader... Read More

A Future Without Poverty – The Future of Welfare Reform and Universal Credit

By Georgia Smith

23 Mar 2015

Sam Bowman, deputy director, Adam Smith Institute Alison Garnham, chief executive, Chid Poverty Action Group Andrew Harrop, general secretary, Fabian Society Chair: David Kirkby, researcher, Bright Blue   Alison... Read More

A Future Without Poverty – Breaking Barriers: How do we tackle social exclusion?

By Georgia Smith

23 Mar 2015

Seema Malhotra MP, shadow minister for preventing violence against women and girls Hannah Pearce, head of public affairs, Age UK Cllr Harry Phibbs, Hammersmith and Fulham council Chair: Daisy-Rose... Read More

A Future Without Poverty – Dragon’s Den: Innovating on the ground: local solutions to 21st century poverty

By Georgia Smith

23 Mar 2015

Dragons: Tessa Awe, chief executive, CVS Brent Chris Goulden, head of policy, Joseph Rowntree Foundation Cllr Gary Porter, leader, LGA Conservatives Innovators: Richard Jones, chief executive, Joshua Project Alex... Read More

A Future Without Poverty – closing remarks

By Georgia Smith

23 Mar 2015

A Future Without Poverty Conference – closing remarks Andrew Harrop, general secretary, Fabian Society Ryan Shorthouse, director, Bright Blue Andrew Harrop celebrated what he saw as the left and... Read More

Event report: Putting poverty at the heart of the 2015 General Election

By Alan Milburn

10 Mar 2015

Many thanks to the Fabian Society and Bright Blue for organising today’s event and to the Fabians for your important Inequality 2030 report.  Thanks are also due to the Webb Memorial... Read More

Paul Goggins Memorial Prize Winner: The Whitefoot and Downham Community Food + Project

By Webb Memorial Trust

08 Sep 2014

In spring 2014 the Webb Memorial Trust launched the Paul Goggins Memorial Prize. Paul Goggins MP was the Secretary of the APPG Poverty and a champion of the anti-poverty agenda in... Read More

Event report: APPG on Poverty – Measuring Child Poverty

By Webb Memorial Trust

27 Mar 2014

This submission from the All Party Parliamentary Group on Poverty is based on a specially commissioned debate, held on 24 January 2013, between Professor Jonathan Bradshaw (York University), Christian Guy... Read More

The January Declaration – a better deal for the North East two years on

By Peter Hetherington

18 Mar 2014

Peter Hetherington examines outcomes from a recent anti-poverty conference in Newcastle co-organised by the Webb Memorial Trust.

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Growing pay gaps are hurting business

By Deborah Hargreaves

18 Mar 2014

Deborah Hargreaves, Director of the High Pay Centre, discusses some of the main findings from a recent report commissioned by the Webb Memorial Trust on pay ratios.

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