Monthly Archives: January 2024

Resources are available on the theme “Exodus! Justice for God’s people on the move”

Easter Offering resources are now available. This year’s theme is ‘Let Justice Roll’.

Why is homelessness an increasing issue for refugees?

When an individual is successful in their asylum application, and granted ‘leave to remain’ status, they are required to leave the accommodation provided to people seeking asylum. Standard procedure should be for people to receive a letter giving 28 days notice of eviction, but in reality, people can get as little as 7 days’ notice. In this period, people are expected to find new accommodation and move out.[1]

It is worth noting that even the 28 days’ notice, which is very little time anyway, is incompatible with the Universal Credit system, through which most people’s housing costs are met, as this has a wait time of at least 5 weeks before the first payment of a new claim. To add further complication, currently the notice of decision for the asylum claim is often not recognised as sufficient evidence to enable people to apply for housing and other support. In order to apply for rented housing from a private landlord, individuals usually need to be able to provide proof of 6 months employment. Asylum seekers are unable to do paid work. Yet to find employment, individuals need a permanent address. This presents an impossible ‘Catch-22’ situation, in already difficult and stressful circumstances, and is a prime cause of homelessness.

Read more on the Joint Public Issues Team site.

Creative for Climate Justice is an exciting new project which will see schools across Scotland creating artwork in response to climate justice, and those artworks will be brought together for an exhibition in the Scottish Parliament in September 2024.

In partnership with SCIAF and Oxfam, and supported by Stop Climate Chaos Scotland, we are aiming to bring the voices of young people to Scotland’s leaders and share their thoughts on the climate emergency.

You can find more information here Creative for Climate Justice Scotland Resources – Christian Aid 

Christian Aid has been awarded £250,000 for communities impacted by loss and damage in Dasenech, South Omo, in southern Ethiopia. 

Christian Aid has worked in Ethiopia, through local partners, for 30 years.  Recently this area of Ethiopia has been impacted by severe drought followed by flooding, in repeating cycles.  It’s meant homes, livelihoods and livestock have been destroyed.

The Scottish Government ‘loss and damage’ funding, announced during COP28 will be used in several ways including to carry out repairs to damaged infrastructure like boreholes, re-training and job creation projects, a veterinary programme to boost the health of livestock and much needed psychosocial support for communities feeling traumatised.

You can find out more:  Loss and Damage funding for South Omo, Ethiopia – Christian Aid 

A new Lent Course, produced by Christian Aid, Baptist Union, Methodist Church, United Reformed Church, Church Action on Poverty, The Trussell Trust, and others. Together it enables churches and individuals UK-wide to gain a deeper understanding of experiences of poverty, local and global. We’ll be sharing stories of faith and activism that challenge the status quo. And we’ll be offering inspiration for actions big and small that we can all take to tackle poverty together.

Each pack contains:

• Guidance for a short Bible study
• Access to audio recordings of conversations featuring anti-poverty practitioners and activists, many with lived experience of poverty in the UK and worldwide
• Questions and prompts for small group discussion
• Inspiring videos from churches taking practical action on poverty
• A guide to simple steps your church can take to advocate for change

You can also use each pack as a standalone session to explore the issues most relevant for you.

Download the resources.

Unbounded Love is the theme of the Lent campaign for the Methodist Church in 2024 – holding together our commitments to be a justice-seeking church, and people who experience and proclaim the good news of God’s uncontainable love. Sign up for our daily reflection emails and find a range of resources that connect the Gospel readings from the Sunday lectionary throughout Lent to weekly themes, each one a line lifted from Charles Wesley’s hymn “Love divine, all loves excelling”.

• Access a webpage version of the worship resources
• Download a PDF version of the worship resources
  Resources for churches include a poster, ideas for either Sunday services or small groups, and a social media campaign pointing people to local churches.

Read the JPIT blog on how this evolved.