Religious leaders, charities, and campaign leaders have called on the government to end poverty in the UK by 2020. The National Poverty Hearing, the first gathering of its kind for 10 years, was held Wednesday at Westminster Central Hall to "challenge the myth that poverty is not real in the UK," organisers said.
Poverty campaigners, faith groups, trade unions and politicians attended the day-long hearing, including the Bishop of Hulme, the Rt Rev Stephen Lowe - standing in at the last minute for the Archbishop of Canterbury, the head of the Roman Catholic Church in England and Wales, Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor, and Chief Rabbi Sir Jonathan Sacks.Bishop Lowe shared his eyewitness account of poverty on the council estate in Manchester where he lives, saying, "Behind many of the doors there is a great deal of poverty".
He added that family breakdown was rooted in poverty and that a living wage was necessary for a healthy family life.
"The Church of England wants to help open the eyes of this nation," he said.
"I was shocked by the assumption that poverty is 'all out there in Africa'," he said, referring to a film made by Oxfam which asked passers-by on the streets what they thought of poverty in the UK and screened at the hearing on Thursday. "Come to Manchester and open your eyes," said Bishop Lowe.
"You need to see, you need to open your eyes," he said.
The Church of England's Church Urban Fund has been helping the one in four children who live in poverty in the UK and the almost one in ten who live in severe poverty.
Chief Executive Fran Beckett said: "Last winter, 25,000 older people died of preventable cold related illnesses. Up to 20,000 destitute asylum seekers are reliant on the Red Cross, churches and charities for food and basic essentials. It is high time all faiths came together to condemn this."
Cardinal Murphy-O'Connor praised the "hugely important" role that voluntary organisations play in serving the poor in Britain.
"Voluntary organisations can help so many poor people in our country to get access to the benefits that are their rights."
