Greater Manchester comes together for Challenge Poverty Week

On Monday 16 October, individuals and organisations from across Greater Manchester came together to consider how we can end poverty in our city-region.

To kick off Challenge Poverty Week, we organised an all-day event in collaboration with the Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) and the Methodist Central Hall to bring together many of us across the city-region who are working to tackle poverty.

The event saw a number of speakers share their work and ideas on what can be done to reduce and prevent poverty, including: Cllr Arooj Shah, Leader of Oldham Council and GM Portfolio lead for Equalities and Communities; Jo Garsden, Programme Manager at the Greater Manchester Ageing Hub; Sasha Deepwell, Chief Executive at Irwell Valley Homes (representing the Greater Manchester Housing Providers partnership); Steve Hughes, Chief Operating Officer at Citizens Advice SORT; and Sheenagh Young, Chief Executive at the South Manchester Credit Union.

We also had a message of support from Andy Burnham, Mayor of Greater Manchester, and Reverend Ian Rutherford hosted a Q&A panel with representatives from Virgin Media, Virgin Money, United Utilities, Electricity North West and Lloyds Banking Group.

Attendees spent much of the afternoon in group discussions, considering what a Greater Manchester free from poverty might look like and how we might get there.

Graham Whitham, CEO at Greater Manchester Poverty Action said: “We’d like to thank all speakers and attendees for your time and involvement, and for making it such a thought-provoking and insightful day.

“It was excellent to have a broad range of individuals and organisations considering future priorities and actions for anti-poverty efforts in the city-region and identifying options for partnership working and network development. The many learnings from discussions will be invaluable in helping shape our work going forwards, and will inform our next three-year strategy.

“We look forward to continuing to work with you all in driving down poverty in Greater Manchester.”

Greater Manchester Poverty Action (GMPA) is a recognised leader on poverty in the UK and exists to end poverty in Greater Manchester and beyond.

We deliver independent, evidence-based activities to address socio-economic disadvantage. These focus on maximising the financial resources available to households, amplifying the voices of people with lived experience, and working with our network to achieve meaningful change.

To learn more, see our work on local anti-poverty strategies, adoption of the socio-economic duty, our anti-poverty forums, the Greater Manchester Living Wage Campaign, our Money Advice Referral Tools and Money Matters programme.