Displaying items by tag: United Kingdom

The government is allowing millions of citizens to fall behind due to digital exclusion, the House of Lords has warned. As services move online at an unprecedented rate, the report by the Lords communications and digital committee found significant numbers lacking the means and skills needed to get online. The cost of living crisis has exacerbated affordability issues, with up to 1 million people cutting off their broadband due to their finances, while half of people over 75 lacked basic digital skills. Some young people are doing homework at church youth groups because they can’t access the internet at home. The House of Lords is urging the Prime Minister to take urgent action to tackle digital exclusion as 2.4 million people cannot complete a single digital task and five million will be digitally under-skilled by 2030. Pray that the disabled, aged, and socio-economically challenged may have the help they need.

Last week we prayed about school uniform costs. This week we can be grateful that Marks and Spencer are offering families money off children’s clothes if they donate school uniform hand-me-downs to help parents struggling amid the cost of living crisis. The second-hand uniforms will be sold via Oxfam’s high street chain and a new ‘back-to-school’ eBay shop.

Conversations about up-and-coming by-elections aren't popular with Conservative MPs just now. Inflation is not coming down as quickly as hoped. Homeowners are struggling with higher mortgage rates. Small boat crossings reached a new June record this year. Rishi Sunak’s five targets are growing more challenging. Pessimism is not the ideal backdrop for a governing party going into a set of by-elections, which will be an indicator of the political mood in the country. Father God, we hold the nation before you. You are the God who reigns over governments; bring justice where injustice rules. Give strength to the struggling and hope to the hopeless. Grant vision and insight to those with authority to change things for the better. Father God, heal what is hurting and restore what has been broken. You sovereignly place every leader and have marked their days of service. Give them more of Your wisdom for the tasks ahead.

Thousands of Coventry school children took part in a huge worship event organised by the Diocese of Coventry. Pupils from 76 schools across the diocese were invited to join four worship concerts led by iSingPOP Praise, Chip Kendall, and Shell Perris as part of ALIVE 2023. The diocese wanted the children to experience worship in a large setting having gone through the pandemic when they were unable to visit churches or have external groups visit schools. The event at Stoneleigh Park saw 9,000 children and parents attend. ALIVE 2023 gave thousands of children a chance to sing and dance, listen, laugh and learn, to be loud and be silent, and discover the fullness of life that comes from being world changers - people who have caught the vision of the sort of world of peace, kindness and justice that Jesus saw, and who decide to work with God for a better world for all.

Even though several MPs were suspended recently for bad behaviour, a ‘predatory culture’ still exists around the House of Commons, as reports of inappropriate flirting and sexual misconduct continue. Six staff members say abuses of power by male MPs and senior staffers remain common, and the new complaints process is too slow. One woman was continually asked to sit on a male MP's knee, and another person was bombarded with text messages. A parliamentary aide said everyone who works in Parliament either has their own story of sexual misconduct or knows someone with one. She said the problem transcends party politics. A House of Commons spokesman said it took complaints seriously, and bullying, harassment and sexual misconduct had no place in Parliament, adding, ‘We remain committed to ensuring that lasting cultural change can be achieved here’.

Pope Francis has called on leaders to show compassion for refugees fleeing war, persecution, or poverty. Instead of ensuring they reach safety, the UK government has introduced a new 'Illegal Migration Bill' which would shut the door on people needing protection and enable the government to deport them to countries such as Rwanda - a policy the Court of Appeal has ruled unlawful. The Catholic Agency for Overseas Development (CAFOD) wants people to ask their MPs to oppose the bill so that we can welcome those who need protection. This landmark intervention on domestic policy refers to the Pope's call for the need to show maximum respect for the dignity of each migrant and ‘build bridges not walls’ as well as ‘expanded channels for a safe and regular migration.’ But CAFOD said that instead of showing respect and dignity, the UK government is trying to make the situation for people seeking safety even worse.

Miriam, who is 77 and recovering from cancer, had her life torn apart when she had to choose to care at home for her 89-year-old husband Ian, while her sister Jennifer (73, with young onset dementia) was placed in assisted living accommodation. Ian was diagnosed with vascular dementia in 2020. Over 220,000 people are unpaid carers for a sick or disabled person in Northern Ireland. That’s one in eight people. Caring for people at home reduces pressure on the health and social care system, and it reduces the number of people in residential care and hospitals. Miriam said she had to ‘let one go’ to look after the other: ‘It is just exhausting.’ The Praxis charity has appointed the first dementia coordinator, who will focus entirely on carers. The last carers strategy was published two decades ago. Northern Ireland lags behind the rest of the UK in supporting people battling the dementia journey alone.

Britain’s superstar breaststroke swimmer Adam Peaty has revealed that a newfound faith in God helped him overcome alcohol misuse. He has started going to church every Sunday and said, ‘It’s about being a better person. Not only a better athlete and fulfilling my gift, but also being a better dad for George. There are so many other reasons. It gets quite deep. But it’s great to be a part of.’ After surgery for a foot injury and then struggling with his mental health, he reached out to the Olympic chaplain Ashley Null.

The Home Office (HO) is leaving British people homeless by outbidding local councils for accommodation. HO contractors are bidding for accommodation for asylum seekers, while the number of British people having to stay in temporary accommodation is near record levels. Asked on three separate occasions why its contractor paid more than councils can afford, the HO refused to comment. The problem is most acute in London, where 166,000 people are in temporary lodgings - more than the population of Oxford. There was no suggestion that the HO or asylum-seekers created the problem, but it is contributing to homelessness. The councils are spending £52m a month on temporary accommodation and will not outbid each other, because they want to protect taxpayers. There needs to be the same partnership with the HO. Pray for housebuilders to invest in building more affordable housing.

Prince William's Homewards project is a campaign for affordable housing as families face rising mortgage and rent costs, but there are some big challenges to face. He has been personally engaged in homelessness for many years as an active patron of the charities Centrepoint and The Passage. He now wants to turn words into action, with a more interventionist plan to create extra housing and measurably cut homelessness over the next five years. But this means getting involved in areas normally reserved for elected politicians, and he may face questions about getting involved in political issues. Any involvement in addressing a shortage of affordable housing is inescapably political, not least when there is so much anxiety about rising rents and mortgage costs. But being accused of being a bit too political might not actually be a bad thing, according to royal author Prof Pauline Maclaran, particularly for a younger generation.