London: conference on women's poverty

Dr Amy Daughton

The National Board of Catholic Women is organising a Study Day, ‘Women’s Poverty – A Wake-up call’, this Saturday, 1 December at CAFOD headquarters in London which will launch its project on Women’s Poverty. Its aim is to: raise awareness of Women’s poverty; equip and inspire Catholic women to challenge injustice where it exists and encourage and enable advocacy and engagement in the political processes relating to this poverty.

Dr Amy Daughton, from the Margaret Beaufort Institute, will address the issue from a perspective  grounded in the Gospels and Catholic Social teaching. Liam Allmark, Public Policy Officer from the Bishops’ Conference Catholic Social Action Network (who are supporting this project), will look at the current political scene and opportunities for influence and John Battle will speak about how the Gospels and Catholic Social Teaching have influenced his actions as a national politician and local activist.

As spending decisions are currently being devolved from central to local government, Theresa Byrne, a local councillor in Ealing, will explain the political processes and lobbying opportunities at local level.

Further plans include parliamentary training in different parts of the country, and the production of a toolkit which will give the structures necessary for understanding and using them both locally and nationally. We are particularly interested in young women’s participation but all generations are welcome.

The National Board of Catholic Women of England and Wales is a forum to which Catholic organisations and dioceses send representatives and present issues which are of concern to them. Women’s poverty arose as a matter of concern before the economic crisis statistics showed that one in five women in the UK were living in poverty. Since the austerity measures were introduced the situation has become worse.

For further information/to book a place contact: Celia Capstick email Capst4@aol.com 020 8372 6865