Elections come and go – and come back again before you know it. But in between, charities that we support are working constantly to make the world fairer, tackling poverty and offering help to those of us who are in need.

In this regular feature, Reform offers a snapshot of the work charities are doing on our behalf, and how you can support them. Go on, give a little

Embrace the Middle East is educating refugees
Years of conflict in the Middle East have resulted in a refugee crisis. People have left their homes, often with nothing, and are struggling to survive in a new country without any means of support. Embrace works through Christian partners in Egypt and Lebanon to provide emergency help like food aid alongside longer term support including healthcare and education to refugees who would otherwise miss out. You can offer education to a vulnerable girl now by supporting their summer appeal at embraceme.org/suraya. Or get your church involved using Embrace’s harvest resources at embraceme.org/harvest.

For more information or to donate, visit www.embraceme.org or call 01494 897950

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Church Action on Poverty is hearing from the margins
Church Action on Poverty believes that people with firsthand experience of poverty must be at the heart of anti-poverty efforts – and strives to ensure they are. For instance, their general election project, Voices From The Margins, captured the views and concerns of dozens of people in poverty around the country, and shared them widely online.

Grateful for all the support they receive, Church Action on Poverty would love Reform readers to help spread real people’s stories by following the charity on social media or subscribing to their mailing list, by praying for their work and the people they work with, or by donating.

For more information or to donate, visit church-poverty.org.uk/give or call 0161 872 9294

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The Children’s Society is listening to young people
Nearly four million children in the UK are living in poverty. The Children’s Society runs more than 100 local services across the country that help vulnerable young people who are affected by poverty, abuse and neglect. The charity supports children who are experiencing sexual exploitation, going missing, misusing substances and dealing with mental health issues – often they’re facing more than one of these issues at the same time. Project workers listen to what young people have to say and provide intensive one-to-one support and group sessions to help them rebuild their lives and enjoy a better future.

For more information and to donate, visit childrenssociety.org.uk or call 020 7841 4400

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Oasis is helping local communities
Oasis believes that poverty can only truly be tackled by ensuring that people are part of flourishing and healthy communities. The charity works in communities across the world, striving to create a new sense of neighbourhood by delivering integrated services ranging from academies to foodbanks, youth groups and debt advice centres. All of our work is locally owned and recognises the importance of developing character and building resilience in people and communities.

For more information or to donate, visit www.oasisuk.org or call 020 7921 4200

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ShelterBox is equipping refugees
ShelterBox meets the emergency shelter needs of families after a natural catastrophe or during conflict. Everything to sustain life and hope is packed into a durable portable green box – an all-weather tent, groundsheeets and blankets, cooking equipment, water filtration, mosquito nets and solar lighting. There are also ShelterKits and SchoolBoxes. Almost 85 million people around the world are forced from their homes by calamities caused by humans or by nature – the greatest number ever recorded.

For more information or to donate, visit www.shelterbox.org or call 0300 0300 500

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Christians against Poverty is offering job clubs
Destitution is the reality for too many people in the UK and the Church is doing amazing work to help them. Through Christians Against Poverty (CAP), congregations last year helped more than 21,000 people, not just with debt counselling, but a range of other services that the charity has added in the past few years. If you thought you knew CAP it’s time to take fresh look: 164 churches are running CAP Job Clubs, specialising in helping long-term unemployed people; 79 churches have trained to run CAP Release Groups, helping people to stop drinking, smoking, gambling and more; and the charity’s newest addition, CAP Life Skills, is proving to be a very popular vehicle for reaching families and helping them live well on a budget.

For more information or to donate, visit capuk.org/donate or call 01274 760761

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Christian Aid is talking to banks
Christian Aid has a vision to eradicate poverty across the world – and it needs your help to do it. Whether it’s through volunteering, fundraising, praying, campaigning, running events or engaging your local churches, schools and youth groups, there are plenty of ways to get involved. For instance, you can donate to the charity’s East Africa food crisis appeal (www.christianaid.org.uk/eastafrica), help to provide a safe place for some of the millions of people who have been displaced from their homes  (www.christianaid.org.uk/refugees), or ask your bank to combat climate change by making the ‘Big Shift’ away from fossil fuels (www.christianaid.org.uk/bigshift).

For more ideas, visit www.christianaid.org.uk/getinvolved or call 020 7620 4444

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Action Aid is challenging child marriage
ActionAid works with the poorest women and girls in the world, changing their lives for good. They challenge the root causes of poverty and injustice, supporting women and girls to claim their rights and lead their communities out of poverty.

This summer, ActionAid launches a campaign to raise awareness of 250 million girls who have been forced to marry before they turn 15. Child marriage robs the most vulnerable girls in the world of their childhood, education, health and freedom. ActionAid workers combat child marriage in their communities, bringing perpetrators to justice and educating about the negative effects of child marriage.

For more information or to donate, visit www.actionaid.org.uk or call 01460 238 047

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This article was published in the July/August 2017 edition of  Reform

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