The high-profile MPs David Lammy and Iain Duncan Smith will debate poverty in the UK at a conference later this month made up of church ministers, youth workers and young people organised by the Christian urban youth work charity XLP.
Vicar of St Martin-in-the-Fields, Dr Sam Wells will also be speaking during the event on February 28, alongside the award-winning mental health nurse Erin Docherty, Leroy Logan MBE and leading youth workers Jim Davis MBE and Patrick Regan OBE, with ITN's Nina Hossain hosting.
The conference, Tackling the Impact of Growing Up in Poverty, follows research by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation showing that today, 400,000 more children live in poverty than five years ago, with rates of poverty most rapidly increasing for those aged 14-24.
Lammy, who famously spoke movingly about the Grenfell Tower disaster last year, told Christian Today: 'This is a really important conference. I've been in public life now for two decades and I grew up poor, but there is something that has changed in the past few years and it's the lack of stability that those living in poverty have – there's a precariousness that's associated with unstable housing, unstable benefits and local authorities with 40 per cent cuts stepping away from youth services and community support.'
XLP works in inner-city London, in seven of the 10 most deprived boroughs in the entire country. Its founder and CEO Patrick Regan challenged churches who are more willing to give money but not offer long-term hope, support and love to those in most need.
He said: 'While there are many churches doing excellent work supporting those in need, we need to be holding mercy and justice in equal measure – willing to address and tackle the root causes of poverty so there is genuine hope for those who are struggling. It isn't enough to just give money, food or clothes – compassion and people willing to stand up for what is just are needed too.'
Regan added: 'We need people from across political and social divides to unite and address the root causes. This conference is a rallying cry, for us all to work together to address this epidemic.'
Four main questions will be debated at the conference: Why is child poverty rising? What are the long-term effects of growing up in poverty? Whose responsibility is it to tackle the impact poverty has? How do we stop people being trapped in cycles of poverty?
The conference takes place at 6:30pm on February 28 at All Hallows-on-the-Wall in East London.
