Caritas Salford Summer Appeal: Tackling child poverty in our diocese

Thursday 28th July 2022

Our diocesan charity, Caritas Diocese of Salford, has launched its summer appeal after new figures reveal the shocking extent of child poverty in our diocese.

The charity is calling for urgent action after new figures from Loughborough University reveal that 228,855* children are living in poverty across our diocese.

Patrick O’Dowd, Director of Caritas Salford, said:

“As we go through the most severe period of price rises for 40 years, we know that more families than ever will need help, especially across these school holiday weeks and the planned energy price hike in the autumn.

“It is simply not right that children are suffering, and these latest figures of the numbers living in poverty in our area are frankly shocking.

Demand for our services is higher than ever, and it’s heartbreaking and completely unacceptable that families are having to choose between paying bills or feeding their children. Action must be taken now.”

In response to these figures, Caritas Salford has launched a fundraising campaign to help families facing such challenges, in addition to lobbying the government to make key changes to support people’s immediate spending needs.

These changes include:

Increasing benefits now (as opposed to April 2023) to bring them in line with inflation
Reintroducing the £20 uplift for Universal Credit
Providing a one-off payment to households in dwellings below EPC band C
Implementing policies that help mitigate the impact of inflationary shocks in the future.

Providing vital support to families across our diocese is at the very heart of Caritas Salford’s work.

Since its launch in 2020, the Caritas Bishop’s Fund has been awarding small one-off emergency grants to families and individuals in crisis. Access to these grants is promoted via Caritas frontline workers and partnership organisations, as well as the diocesan network of schools and parishes.

The fund has helped people in many different ways, ranging from supermarket shopping vouchers through to replacement white goods and children’s beds.

As well as providing accommodation to support young parents and their infant children experiencing homelessness, Caritas Salford provides tailored support services to school children and their families as they experience difficulties.

You can find out more about how to access or help fund this support by visiting the Caritas website.

*Click here to download a breakdown of child poverty figures in our diocese.

To download a donation postcard to share with your parish, family, or friends, please click here.