Poverty and Homelessness Action Week 2008 (23 Sep 2007)

Each year Homelessness Sunday takes place on the last Sunday of January, and Poverty Action Sunday takes place on the last Sunday before Lent. Normally there are at least a couple of Sundays between these two events.

However, in 2008, Homelessness Sunday and Poverty Action Sunday are just one week -apart  28 January and 3 February.

To seize this opportunity, Church Action on Poverty and the Homelessness Sunday Partnership (Housing Justice and Scottish Churches Housing Action) are working together (with Church Urban Fund and others) to plan a week of action - Poverty/Homelessness Action Week 2008.

The Action Week will be a major opportunity to for local churches to discover and engage with poverty and social justice issues within their own communities.

Local poverty hearings

The organisers hope that at least 100 local churches or Churches Together groups, working in partnership with local projects, CABs and other agencies will organise a local Poverty Hearing or hearing-style event - to hear the voices and stories of people experiencing poverty and homelessness in their own towns and neighbourhoods.

Local Hearings could vary considerably in size from a one- or two- hour neighbourhood hearing hosted by a local church and/or community project to a full day town/city hearing organised by a consortium of organisations.

Church Action on Poverty is running a series of regional training events across the UK this autumn A resource pack, Opening Doors Opening Hearts, is also available. You can see more details on their website.

For more information contact Judith Maizel-Long on 020 7723 7273 x254, or Liam Purcell on 0161 236 9321.