Whenever I look at my parents, my heart immediately fills up with a huge burst of gratitude and recognition for all the sacrifices they have made to help and support me and my brother achieve a good education and a kind of societal status that would somehow elevate our value in the eyes of others around us, those withholding the keys to opportunities, and access to major institutions.
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In 2018 Sharewear Clothing Scheme launched Clothing Poverty Awareness Day (9th June) to highlight the hidden issue of clothing poverty in the general population. Today the charity holds a Clothing Poverty Awareness Week to continue the conversation about this under-reported issue. This year’s #CPAW2021 runs from the 7-13th June and Louise Cooke, Founder, CEO and Head of Operations, writes a blog asking us all to consider the everyday impact of clothing poverty.
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“Life balances itself on a precarious ledge”[1]. Those of us with assets built through a good education, enterprise or class hand ups can shut our eyes to the ledge. We can delude ourselves we are in control of our lives. But sometimes we misplace our step on the precipice……. For me, my stumble came in my 30s when I lost my home after the breakdown of a long-term relationship. Then 20 years later another one with a second redundancy that went on for 6 months. But I was lucky. I could lean on my assets to cushion my fall; sheltering in a friend’s spare room the first time and drawing on savings the second time.
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In my late teenage years, and like many in that age group, I had a taste for worldly literature and an admiration for cynicism. My friends and I were therefore impressed [and reassured] by a reputed exchange between two writers of the early twentieth century, seen by us as the gentle and naïve F. Scott Fitzgerald and the tough and cynical Ernest Hemingway.
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As a linguist, I care greatly about language – it’s a means by which we shape opinion and convey ideas. In relation to protests and social movements, language is of particular importance; it’s a means by which support is rallied and wants are communicated. Language is also the means by which the public learn about protests and social movements, especially through press coverage, which plays a substantial role in giving protesters a platform to amplify their voices.
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Despite being one of the richest economies in the world, the UK has one of the worst food poverty rates in Europe.
A person is said to be living in food poverty when they cannot afford to buy sufficient quantities of nutritious food. Food poverty often means having to skip meals and going hungry, or eating unhealthy foods which lack nutritional value.
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We walk through life with a set-up that discriminates against many people while masquerading as an inevitable norm. For somewhere along the line, inequality was built into systems that seek to prevent us from thinking outside this framework of existence where a minority live a luxurious life. We may no longer be ruled by monarchs and their social class, but we have wealthy groups of people who may as well be royalty when we consider how insulated they are from the impacts of poverty.
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Helen Barnard, director of the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, advises activists: think big, campaign smart and seek the common ground not the high ground.
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Read these two fascinating articles with US Civil Rights movement veterans by JtoJ volunteer Hannah
Simpson, shedding light on unforgettable experiences and their lasting impact.
Ngunan Adamu of Radio Merseyside interviewed JtoJ director Carrie on International Women’s Day 2021 about our aims, work and impact.
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