On Saturday 1st July we hosted our largest and most inspiring activist conference yet. We were delighted to have a great mix of people, including members of our affiliated local groups as well as individual activists who came along to find out more about how they might tackle inequality, both locally and nationally.

In the morning Dr Wanda Wyporska (our Executive Director) outlined our new, more campaigning, strategic direction and the participants gave useful feedback and provided new ideas for us to incorporate into our plans. Then, in the first session after lunch, the participants attended their preferred session from either Media Training or Social Media Training or Show & Tell. The first two sessions provided valuable skills-based training whereas the Show & Tell session was a chance for activists and the local groups to share their experiences of campaigning against inequality and to learn from each other. A wide, varied and impressive range of work was showcased.

In the final session of the day we had an excellent talk from Professors Richard Wilkinson & Kate Pickett under the title Inequality, Brexit, Trump and Corbyn: The New World (dis)Order? which sparked a great debate and left people feeling positive about the prospects for tackling inequality in the future and how they might themselves contribute. As Kate noted, the rhetoric on inequality is now in a good place compared to when The Equality Trust started. Nearly all the UK political parties are talking about tackling inequality in their own distinctive ways but we now need to see concrete action by government (national and local) to reduce it.

Such action to reduce inequality is only going to happen if we have the necessary popular movement constantly demanding that action. Together with our supporters and local groups we are able to play a vital part in making that movement a reality. Please join us. Thank you.