This month has been busy as The Equality Trust organised the Fight Inequality Alliance European gathering in Copenhagen.
We are also gearing up for our annual fundraising appeal: The Big Give Christmas Challenge. Donations between noon 3rd December and 10th December will be doubled. It’s an impressive way to get the most bang for your buck. Save the date!
Building the movement
Wanda spoke at the National Housing Federation’s Diversity, Equality and Inclusion in Housing Conference, speaking alongside representatives from the LGBT Consortium, Disability Rights and Stonewall Housing.
She has also appeared at an event hosted by Amnesty International, understanding poverty and social rights through lived experience, discussing the socio-economic duty alongside our friends at Just Fair, ATD Fourth World and Thrive Teesside.
Fighting inequality in Copenhagen
Earlier this month, Wanda and Rianna travelled to Copenhagen to convene a Fight Inequality Alliance European gathering, attended by NGO staff and grassroots activists representing six European countries. Across two days, activists explored the links between the climate and inequality crises, and developed plans for national mobilisations for the Fight Inequality global week of action taking place in January.
While there, we also hosted a public debate in which panellists discussed the impacts of privatisation of public services for gender equality, launching our latest policy briefing on the issue.
Demand equal pay this November
November marks the month in the year in which women, on average, begin “working for free” as a result of the gender pay gap. We’re calling on our supporters to get active throughout the month to demand that businesses and the Government take urgent action on gender pay inequality.
Things you can do:
- Organise a leafletting session in your local area
- Lobby a company with a large gender pay gap online or at their offices if they are local!
- Run a lunchtime meeting at your workplace to discuss equal pay
- If you’re based in London, join our street action on Wednesday 6th
- Signpost people to advice and support on progressing equal pay disputes
Email us (info@equalitytrust.org.uk) to order leaflets, get advice on how to run an equal pay meeting and to discuss other ways you can get involved. Find out more about Equal Pay Month.
Young Equality Campaign update:
We are proud and excited to be supporting Brighter Futures, who were part of our Young Equality Campaigners pilot, to deliver Words Apart – a free evening of art and poetry.
This project enables young migrants to speak openly and without fear about the issues that impact their daily lives.
The event will be held on the 19th November, 6pm – 9.30pm, at the Ecology Pavilion (London, E3). We really hope to see some of you there, so you can see the impact that working alongside young people has.
Following on from choosing The Equality Trust for their charity fundraiser, as part of their Citizenship GCSE, Ted, Connor and Luke invited Jo to deliver an assembly to 100 students at Adeyfield School. Prior to the assembly, the students undertook a survey which demonstrated respondents did not have a good understanding of inequality.
Feedback from students on the day showed that the assembly had increased their knowledge and understanding immensely. Teachers also reported that they felt more able to deliver information about socio-economic inequality effectively in lessons
Fundraising appeal: The Big Give Christmas Challenge
We are delighted to announce that we will be taking part in The Big Give Christmas Challenge for the third year running.
Alongside several generous individual donors, Four Acre Trust has, once again, backed our vision of working alongside children and young people to tackle socioeconomic inequality.
We have just one week from Tuesday 3rd December to raise over £15,000 to unlock all of these generous pledges. If you would like to speak to someone about making a donation, or if you have any questions about the project, please email Jo, the project lead.
LATEST BLOGS / COMMENT / RESOURCES
- Once upon a time ( austerity in the East Midlands)
- Read our Everyday Inequality blog for WEALL
- We signed an open letter to the World Bank demanding a fairer school system
- Thomas Cook: how CEOs defend their high pay among the financial ruin of thousands
- What millionaires can do to challenge inequality: blog and Challenge Paper: Inequality and Exclusion
- Unequal share of carbon emissions with 20 companies responsible for 35% of carbon emissions
- “I thought I grew up poor – but not as poor as you”: young working class women share their stories of discrimination at work
KEY DEVELOPMENTS AND REPORTS
- How can we improve teaching young people about real socioeconomic inequality in schools?
- Institute for Policy Studies (US): typical employees need to work 1,000 years to earn what an executive earns in just one year
- Carnegie UK Trust, Living Wage Scotland and Living Wage Foundation publish the Living Wage Toolkit
- Our policy briefing on public–private partnerships, gender and the role of privatisation in undermining progress towards achieving women’s rights
- Structurally Unsound: UCL and the Resolution Foundation report on 5 approaches to equity, featuring excerpts from our #everydayinequality platform
- Falling through the cracks: exposing inequalities in the EU and beyond by SDG Watch Europe, Make Europe Sustainable for All and Faces of Inequality
- Oxfam discussion paper Fighting Inequality to Beat Poverty: The role of UK international development
INEQUALITY IN THE NEWS
- Why managing executive pay is a shareholder issue
- Protests around the world: people standing up to inequality
- Rising inequality in Brazil
- A tax on whatsapp: the straw that broke the camel’s back in Lebanon
- Inequality sparks protest in Chile
- Inequality sparks protests in Hong Kong
- Private Finance Initiative nightmare: local authorities are trapped
- Bank of England Chief Economist supports extending compulsory pay gap reporting to ethnicity as well as gender
BEST INEQUALITY READS AND LISTENS
- Green Alliance Blog on why justice and environmental organisations should be working more closely together
- Njoki Njehu on inequality and African Feminism: Podcast + transcript
- UCL’s Grand Challenge of Justice & Equality event: Structurally Unsound
- Young people face the biggest challenge with growing inequality
- Resentment is not conducive to generosity: how inequality is dangerous for democracy
Thanks again for another amazing month. To find out more about any of our projects, please get in contact.