Church Action on Poverty
Encyclopedia
Church Action on Poverty is a UK-based national ecumenical Christian
Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
social justice
Social justice
Social justice generally refers to the idea of creating a society or institution that is based on the principles of equality and solidarity, that understands and values human rights, and that recognizes the dignity of every human being. The term and modern concept of "social justice" was coined by...
charity
Charitable organization
A charitable organization is a type of non-profit organization . It differs from other types of NPOs in that it centers on philanthropic goals A charitable organization is a type of non-profit organization (NPO). It differs from other types of NPOs in that it centers on philanthropic goals A...
, committed to tackling poverty
Poverty
Poverty is the lack of a certain amount of material possessions or money. Absolute poverty or destitution is inability to afford basic human needs, which commonly includes clean and fresh water, nutrition, health care, education, clothing and shelter. About 1.7 billion people are estimated to live...
in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
. CAP works in partnership with churches and with people in poverty themselves to find solutions to poverty, locally, nationally and globally.
CAP was formed in 1982, has its main offices in Manchester
Manchester
Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...
and is charity number 1079986. The first Director of CAP was the MP John Battle
John Battle (politician)
John Dominic Battle, KC*SG is a British Labour Party politician, who was the Member of Parliament for Leeds West from 1987 to 2010.-Early life:...
, the second Director was current government minister Paul Goggins
Paul Goggins
Paul Gerard Goggins is a British Labour Party politician, who has been the Member of Parliament for Wythenshawe and Sale East since 1997, and was a Minister of State at the Northern Ireland Office.-Early life:...
. The current Director is Niall Cooper.
CAP is responsible for running the annual Poverty Action Sunday (formerly Unemployment Sunday) which has now developed into Poverty and Homelessness Action Week. CAP began the Living Ghosts campaign highlighting the destitution of asylum seekers in the UK. It also contributes to the Debt on our Doorstep
Debt on our Doorstep
Debt on our Doorstep is a UK-based campaign against extortionate credit lending and for fair financial services. The campaign, founded in 1999, comprises not-for-profit and non-governmental organisations including Oxfam and the National Housing Federation...
campaign against loan sharks and extortionate lending practices such as payday loans
Payday loans in the United Kingdom
Payday loans in the United Kingdom are a rapidly growing industry, with four times as many people using such loans in 2009 compared to 2006 - in 2009 1.2 million people took out 4.1 million loans, with total lending amounting to £1.2 billion. The average loan size is around £300, and two-thirds of...
.
CAP has pioneered participatory budgeting
Participatory budgeting
Participatory budgeting is a process of democratic deliberation and decision-making, and a type of participatory democracy, in which ordinary people decide how to allocate part of a municipal or public budget...
, which has been taken up by the Labour
Labour Party (UK)
The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
government since 2007. It has also pioneered the first use of sustainable livelihoods analysis in the developed world in its Thrive project in Stockton-on-Tees
Stockton-on-Tees
Stockton-on-Tees is a market town in north east England. It is the major settlement in the unitary authority and borough of Stockton-on-Tees. For ceremonial purposes, the borough is split between County Durham and North Yorkshire as it also incorporates a number of smaller towns including...
in north east England. These two projects highlight CAP's role in bringing international development
International development
International development or global development is a concept that lacks a universally accepted definition, but it is most used in a holistic and multi-disciplinary context of human development — the development of greater quality of life for humans...
concepts to bear in finding solutions to socioeconomic problems in the UK.