Poverty & Homelessness Prayer calendar now online!

The online prayer calendar for Poverty & Homelessness Action Week 2012 has been released.  Visit the Action Week site to follow day-by-day, and explore the barriers that people face - barriers of Housing Benefit; silence; lack of support; stigma; inadequate housing supply; low pay; rough sleeping; and unjust taxation.  All these and more combine to prevent people in poverty and experiencing homelessness from full participation in 21st-century life.

Each day during Action Week, you'll receive an email with a link to the day's prayer calendar materials: a video outlining the key points of the issue involved; an indication of who needs our prayers; a suggested action to make a difference; and a fundraising idea. If you prefer, you can follow the calendar on Twitter or Facebook.

The video clips are also available on DVD, so you can use them in church services or other events. You can order a DVD for £10 by contacting one of the Action Week partners.

The prayer for Poverty & Homelessness Action Week is:

Father, we thank you that Jesus came to break down barriers.
He did not see the migrant or the settled, the housed or the homeless, the employed or the unemployed;
He saw and loved the person.
Forgive us when we put up barriers between ourselves and others; help us show love to all without constraint.
Help us, your church, to build communities without barriers, where all are valued because all are made in your image.
In Jesus' name, Amen

Organise a 'Breaking Barriers' flashmob!

This year, we are asking supporters to organise a flashmob.  The idea is to meet in a public place attracting as much attention as possible from passers-by - and the press - to raise awareness of the campaign.

  • Ideal Number: At least 10 people.
  • Resources required: Hazard tape (such as here), scissors, banners displaying barriers (Housing Benefit cuts, silence, support, stigmatisation, housing supply, pay, rough sleeping, tax), Action Week posters (you could perhaps print these on the back of the barrier posters), things to make a noise (whistles, rattles, horns, vuvuzelas etc).
  • If possible, inform local papers and radio stations in advance that you will be staging the event, and invite them to send a photographer. Use our model press release if you like - download it here.
  • Don't forget to let the Action Week partners know about your plans too - register the event on our website.

We're encouraging groups to hold their event at lunchtime on Friday 3 February - as a way of making a splash towards the end of Poverty & Homelessness Action Week.  But if another day or time suits your group, then do it to suit local circumstances.

How to set up your flashmob:

1.         Divide your group in two.
2.         One group should be bound with tape and displaying signs describing the barriers the week seeks to address.
3.         The other group should make some noise, shout, whistle, etc and move towards the bound group.
4.         Then (carefully!) cut the tape to free them from their literal barrier and in turn the symbolic barriers that the week challenges.

Use the attention you draw to speak to curious passers-by, tell them about the barriers condemning people to a life of poverty or homelessness and how they can help.

Perhaps have some refreshments on hand to offer - this way you can talk to people for a bit longer.

If you couldn't persuade any press to come along, you could send them a press release and some photos after the event.

Best wishes,

Alastair Cameron, Scottish Churches Housing Action

Visit www.actionweek.org.uk to download all the materials you need for Poverty & Homelessness Action Week 2012, including worship materials, ideas for work with children and young people, information about the barriers and more.  Or order by post from:

Church Action on Poverty, Dale House, 35 Dale Street, Manchester M1 2HF

Housing Justice, Charity Centre, 22-25 Finsbury Square, London EC2A 1DX

or Scottish Churches Housing Action, 44 Hanover St, Edinburgh, EH2 2DR.

Poverty and Homelessness Action Week is organised by Church Action on Poverty, Scottish Churches Housing Action and Housing Justice and runs from 28 January to 5 February 2012. Together we can challenge prejudice, enable excluded people to live full lives, and build a fairer world.