ATD is proud to be a part of Let’s End Poverty, a diverse and growing movement of people who are united behind a vision for a UK where people are no longer kept down by poverty. 

In autumn 2024, Let’s End Poverty brought different groups together to collectively ask the Prime Minister to listen to the voices of those with lived experience of poverty, to bring attention to their valuable insights, and to make an effort to end poverty for good with their shared knowledge. 

With a new government taking the reins, this was the perfect timing to contribute new ideas and bring about desperately needed change. 

Action began by gathering letters written by those with lived experience, addressed to the Prime Minister. The authors came from all different parts of the UK, from Cornwall to Portsmouth, Poole to Lewes, London to York, Halifax to Cheshire, Morecambe Bay to Lancashire, and Glasgow to Orkney. Their letters underscored some of the worst challenges faced by many people day to day. 

Where is the public funding for children’s hospices?

ATD member Taliah Drayak wrote: 

Dear Prime Minister,

“The measure of society is how it treats the weakest members” ― Thomas Jefferson

I write to you on behalf of families in poverty with children who have complex and life-limiting disabilities. As a mother of a child in palliative and hospice care in our society, for whom you have chosen to take up the reins of responsibility, I feel strongly that life is measuring pretty poorly indeed.

The constant threats of cuts to the support available to disabled people and their families is just the start. There are cuts to support for education, a lack of funding
for children’s hospitals and neonatal intensive care units, and onerous and humiliating processes that are barriers to any support. Unless you have experienced it first hand, you probably can’t imagine what it’s like. So here are a few examples:

Did you know children’s hospices are charities? Why does the government not believe that families should have support when their children have very short lives?

Did you know that in neonatal intensive care units, not only are many of the incubators funded by charity, but all of the chairs are charity funded? As a mother, who had just had major surgery myself, all I wanted was to be able to sit next to my baby, who was being transferred across the country for brain surgery. Without charity funding, I would not have been able to sit and sing to her. Without charity funding, she would not have had an incubator, and without charity funding, the specialist team who transported her to a larger hospital would not have existed.

To read the rest of Taliah’s letter along with the full booklet of letters presented, please click here. 

The launch at Parliament

On 15 October, the letters were launched in the Houses of Parliament. A group of those who wrote the letters attended to read their writing, share their story, and to speak with MPs and Peers. This led to a constructive dialogue around incorporating lived experience into future policy-making. The next day, Cat Smith MP used her opportunity at Prime Minister’s Questions to ask Sir Keir Starmer about the letters.

He responded that the letters were:

“honest, powerful and important. They hold up a mirror to our country.”

To continue the campaign, the Let’s End Poverty team invited people across the nation to write postcards to the Prime Minister. More than 500 postcards were written. 

Human Rights Day

On 10 December–Human Rights Day–a small group of campaigners handed the postcards and letters in at Number 10 Downing Street. They were greeted by the Prime Minister’s staff who engaged in dialogue for a few moments. ATD Project Officer, Caitlin Sibthorpe, explained that ATD has long championed co-designing solutions with thoughtful support for people with lived experience of poverty to be able to contribute their best efforts.

Later that day, the group reflected on this experience:

Steve (an ambassador for Trussell) said: “It was so encouraging just to be able to share some of our experiences, and we hope to hear back from Keir and his team soon.”

Revd Alana from the Islington and Camden Methodist Mission Circuit said: “The Methodist Church is delighted to support Let’s End Poverty, to get these messages from people in to the Government, and to ensure that together we work to ‘make poverty history’ in this place, in this country, in this time.”

Caitlin said: “Our message to the Prime Minister is: ‘Please listen to the voices of those with lived experience. These are the people who are experts about what they have to endure daily. We hope the Prime Minister can join us to co-design better solutions for the future.’”

We hope that the viewpoints of people who confront poverty are included in future policy planning in order to make impactful changes. If you would like to join this campaign, send the whole set of Dear Prime Minister letters to your MP and spread the message!