The Bishop's Advisor on Urban Estates
The Revd Peter Leech, Interim Director of Mission and Ministry, talks to the Revd Ruth Clay, Team Vicar at March Churches and Bishop's Advisor on Urban Estates, about what her work as a Bishop's Advisor might look like, and what do we even mean by Urban Estates?
Tackling Poverty in Ely Diocese: Rev'd Ruth Clay reflects on the Tackling poverty hustings...
By the time you read this we will most likely have got a new Prime Minister. As I write, however, we are in the middle of the lead up to the general election and all kinds of people are putting forward their ideas. Sometimes they pontificate, explaining with great conviction about how they will make a difference, overcome the problems and forge a new way forward for the good of all. Sometimes they declare themselves completely on side with their own party and sometimes forge their own path declaring that they recognize the value of tweaking policies here and there.
Sitting on the front row of the hustings I had the opportunity to observe quite closely the behaviour and interaction of six very different candidates. There were those who spent their time putting others down, those who definitely saw the bigger picture but were not always aware of local details and those who were perhaps so immersed in local details they didn't get the bigger picture. It was unlikely that any of them would become the next MP.
Well this particular hustings had the theme of tackling poverty and was hosted by Cambridge City food bank and a number of other local charitable agencies. It was hosted in a church, too,enabling decisions which affect the whole community to be discussed in a sacred space- making sure that as Christians we are never so disconnected from our local communities that we don't know what is going on… Or how people are seeking to help.
So what was noteworthy you might ask?…
We were reminded that in England one in five children live below the poverty line and so many do not have the balanced diets, warm homes or general support required to help them thrive at school. Moreover, so many schools are struggling as they have to offer so much more than academic education, and in buildings which need a lot of work doing to them.
What looks like affluence on the outside can be very deceptive. Cambridge itself has areas which differ by 12 whole years in terms of life expectancy for people that live there. There are many well off, well-educated and well-resourced families. However, there are also somewhere between 1500 and 2500 people who are waiting for homes… and many street sleepers. Out here in the Fens, housing can also be a challenge particularly for young people trying to get on the housing ladder. Social rents are high, waiting list long and landlords are increasingly picky about who they are prepared to let to.
A major initiative by the Trussell trust is campaigning for everybody to have enough financial resources to obtain the essentials of life. There are far too many teachers and nurses and others needing to access the food bank just to feed their families, given all their other costs. Is it really acceptable to see families in 21st century having to choose between heating and eating?
Whilst we are very grateful for the work that all the food banks do, a more ambitious dream they point us to, would see us not needing food banks, at all. We need just policies from government- for poverty is a political choice. Not making fair decisions, but prioritising the wealthy and clever, whilst not noticing or prioritising the poor has led to a wide range of desperate situations which we are now facing. Our communities need far more than temporary aid – we need to be offering a wide range of other services and we need to seek politicians who will ensure fairer wages, better conditions, the development of people's skills, and help find creative ways to maintain peoples dignity and support their mental health.
We heard much about the stigma of being poor and how people make a lot of assumptions and seek to blame individuals whilst not questioning the system…
There were many other issues discussed including Technology, and AI, integrity of leaders and ensuring that local communities are involved in decision making about the areas they live in.
Have you commented on the plans for the new reservoir, near Chatteris or the incinerator near Wisbech? Have you thought about the impact of all the high cost new housing in Cambridge, pricing so many out of their area…Have we thought about the impact of demolishing local community facilities in the name of progress? What about reflecting on the impact of new housing in terms of how it will affect local services in March? When was the last time you said something positive about our amazing NHS? What could you to encourage your local GP or hospital staff?
Much to mull…
Whether you pray, or actively take part in other ways it is vital that as christians we do not simply cut ourselves off from the needs of the wider community. The Bible is full of God’s wrath at groups of his people who think that being religious is enough, while they allow injustice to flourish around them. Let’s walk the talk and engage with issues which affect all of us.
Rev Ruth Clay