A Sovereign story – 17 October, the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty

16 October 2020 

This year marks the 27th anniversary of International Day for the Eradication of Poverty.

The observance of this International Day can be traced back to 17 October 1987. On that day, over a hundred thousand people gathered at the Trocadéro in Paris, where the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was signed in 1948, to honour the people suffering from extreme poverty, violence and hunger.

Poverty is a worldwide issue and one that is all too prevalent here in the UK, with 22% of our own households affected by it. The recently announced government support package offered to those in the service sector who can’t work, will cover 2/3rds of their income and for those on minimum wage there is a danger this could push them into poverty.

But there’s help out there, as communities rally together to bring about change. Sovereign Housing is offering support to strengthen these initiatives by partnering with Crowdfunder UK to provide £150k of funding available through The Sovereign Thriving Communities Fund, This funding is already making a real difference to the lives of residents, and the communities in which they live.

One project to benefit from the Sovereign and Crowdfunder UK partnership is the The Torbay Food Alliance,  which started in March 2020, as a direct response to Covid-19. This united approach saw the 12 separate organisation’s in Torbay, come together to make a real difference to the community to provide food and support to those most in need.

Erica Watts, Head of Employment and Training, Sovereign, said: “With the hard work of these incredible people and partners, we’re able to be part of an initiative to help families to keep food on the table by providing funding supported by the community.

“We’re also on-hand to provide Sovereign residents with access to employment training and support, and we urge residents to get in touch if they’re experiencing difficulties through the current pandemic.”

To facilitate their combined operations and meet the vast increase in demand for their support, the Torbay Food Alliance ran a crowdfunding campaign in April 2020, raising £32,526 from 204 supporters. The total funds raised included £4,000 in +Extra Funding from The Sovereign Thriving Communities Fund.

The Sovereign Thriving Community Fund has so far backed 21 different projects, you can see them here and find out more about the +Extra funding available.

If you’ve got a community project that’s based within 3 miles of a Sovereign Housing development, your project may be eligible for up to £10,000 in +Extra Funding. Start a crowdfunding campaign today