Church and charity leaders in Portadown, Craigavon and Lurgan call for politicians to return to work on poverty crisis

A number of church men from the Portadown, Lurgan and Craigavon areas joined five senior church leaders in calling for urgent action to the mounting crisis.

As local food banks struggle to get basic food to help those in need and more and more people, even those in work, are seeking help, charities also call for more action.

Chris Leech from Emmanuel Church, Portadown

Chris Leech, Senior Pastor, Emmanuel Church, Portadown said: “As a church we are deeply concerned about the level of need that we are seeing in our community at this time.

"As we head into winter, people are already struggling with the cost of living and that is only going to get worse.

"In our Compassion Ministries we support those who are vulnerable with our Renew clothing project and Freedom Foods which is a food pantry giving access to fresh food at a reduced cost.

"The pantry only started in April and already has around 80 member families using it on a regular basis.

"Many of these people are working, but struggling to make ends meet, some of our more elderly clients are on fixed pension incomes and therefore have limited options when dealing with the rise in living costs.

"We are supporting the call for government to take more action to address the cost of living crisis, but specifically that all of our MLA’s seek to form a executive at Stormont to get all the institutions fully operational.

"We are at an urgent tipping point as winter quickly approaches and further details function of Stormont are unacceptable.”

Rev Lachlan Webster, Craigavon Presbyterian Church

Rev Lachlan Webster of Craigavon Presbyterian Church said: “On the ground in central Craigavon the word I hear so often is ‘fear’. This started with Covid, escalated with the war in Ukraine and now has exploded with the cost of living crisis.

"This fear is based on the uncertainty of what the near future will hold for ordinary people who live carefully, but now, through no fault of their own, find their financial legs have been ripped from under them.

"To make things worse the political instability in both Stormont and Westminster has left people feeling abandoned in this storm.

"As a church family in the heart of central Craigavon, we try our best to live out Jesus’ command to ‘love your neighbour as yourself’.

"Whilst there is no obvious path through this cost of living crisis, just imagine the tangible sense of hope there would be if our political representatives, irrespective of their party or politics, bravely took the first step.

"Putting others before themselves, treating their neighbours the way they would want to be treated even going as far as ‘loving their enemies!’ Now that would bring much needed hope which is the antidote to fear!”

Brendan McKernan, Area President of St Vincent de Paul for Armagh and Craigavon

Brendan McKernan, Area President of St Vincent de Paul for Armagh and Craigavon, said: “We are living in tumultuous times and at St Vincent de Paul we are focused on providing practical help to families who are being faced with impossible choices.

"We have witnessed a threefold increase in the number of people seeking our help in recent months and we can only presume that this will continue to rise as autumn and winter approach.

"We are assisting people with food and fuel on a daily basis and more and more, we are receiving requests for help from people experiencing in work poverty who simply cannot make ends meet.

"We would appeal to anyone facing the decision of whether to put money in the meter or food on the table to contact us by emailing [email protected].”

Rev Harold Agnew, High Street Methodist Church, Lurgan

Rev. Harold Agnew, High St Methodist Church, Lurgan said: “All of us have been shocked at the speed this cost of living crisis is taking hold in every community across our land. Churches, charities and other voluntary organisations have always been at the forefront of seeking to help meet the practical needs of people.

“But, this feels different and there is genuine anxiety this winter is going to cause unbearable hardship for so many people as a result of the further extraordinary rises in energy and food bills anticipated in the coming months.

“We, in our churches will continue to support the local foodbanks in Craigavon and our leadership teams are exploring further help we can offer.

"However, there is only so much we can all do and this crisis demands significant government intervention at both National and local levels. The current lack of an Executive here in NI is inexcusable at the present time and needs to be resolved quickly.”

Captain Lisa Cunningham, Corps Officer, Portadown Salvation Army and Martin Stevenson, Community Services Programme Coordinator, Lurgan Salvation Army

Captain Lisa Cunningham, Corps Officer, Portadown Salvation Army and Martin Stevenson, Community Services Programme Coordinator, Lurgan Salvation Army both said: “The Salvation Army has always been at the forefront in seeking to help those in need and those marginalised or vulnerable. Locally, working with other churches and voluntary organisations, this has involved us providing help and support to such people in a practical way.

"Working with the Foodbank for instance we are able to provide emergency food and as an organisation (where funding allows) provide some limited help with energy costs.

"We also seek to help people back to work through our Employment Plus programme and link with other organisations to provide additional help and support where possible. It has become very clear that this help is needed now more than ever.

"Calls to our Helpline and visits to our Drop In are evidence of the increasing struggles people are facing to meet the basic requirements of providing for their families.

"As we enter the winter months with the forecasted increase in energy bills this situation can only be expected to worsen.It is also clear that people are being drawn in to this struggle who would not normally be expected to be so and that families are facing difficult decisions as to what to do to meet soaring costs.

"We too would support the call for government action in this area and for the Executive and all institutions to be fully operational - and quickly.”

What senior church leaders in NI said

Rt Rev Andrew Forster, President of the Irish Council of Churches; Rt Rev Dr John Kirkpatrick, Moderator of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland; Most Rev John McDowell, Church of Ireland Archbishop of Armagh & Primate of all Ireland Most Rev Eamon Martin, Catholic Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland and the Reverend David Nixon, President of the Methodist Church in Ireland. issued a joint statement on the issue.

It said: “The unfolding cost of living crisis is affecting many households, across the island of Ireland, butparticularly those who were already vulnerable and living in poverty. Projections for the Autumn point to the situation worsening while too many people are already struggling to afford essentials like food and fuel and are in real danger of losing their homes, health or lives.

“As leaders of Churches with a presence across the island we are deeply concerned by what we are seeing on the ground, with the increasing energy and food prices disproportionately affecting the most vulnerable, often leaving people with impossible choices choices to make, missing meals, and falling into arrears on bills. to make, missing meals, and falling to make, missing meals, and falling into arrears on bills.

“We are also deeply concerned regarding the government response in both jurisdictions, in meeting immediate needs and also in relation to longer term strategy. In Northern Ireland, the Good Friday Belfast Agreement created a statutory requirement for the Northern Ireland Executive to produce an anti-poverty strategy on the basis of objective need. Almost 25 years later and this has never been agreed or produced. Likewise, in Ireland a cross-party anti-poverty strategy is badly needed to address issues in a comprehensive and effective manner.

“We want to join our voices with many others, calling for more practical support to be delivered urgently through direct government initiatives in both jurisdictions and also via grassroots charity and community partnerships. This must go hand in hand with a longer term refocusing of government policies to deliver real and meaningful social justice and eliminate poverty across this island.

“Followers of Christ have always been called to serve the poor, not just through acts of charity, though these continue every day in ways large and small, but through the pursuit of justice and mercy. It is our shared vocation to witness to Christ and to protect the dignity of those made in God’s image, and so we are compelled to speak up in this moment, out of concern and in hope, for the good and flourishing of everyone in our communities.”