Through its policy and advocacy work, Caritas Salford calls for meaningful change to tackle poverty and inequality, helping people transform their lives with dignity. A key part of this work involves engaging with decision-makers to share insights from the charity’s services and the lived experiences of those it supports.
As part of these efforts, Caritas Salford was pleased to welcome Lord Khan of Burnley, Minister for Faith, Communities and Resettlement, who visited to find out more about the charity and its work supporting people from Greater Manchester and Lancashire.
During his visit to the Cornerstone centre, Lord Khan witnessed first-hand Caritas Salford’s role as a faith-based organisation that offers a warm welcome to people from all backgrounds who are experiencing poverty, homelessness, disadvantage, or displacement. This includes the charity’s homelessness services and Aspire Education service, which supports refugees and migrants.
Caritas Salford highlighted the crucial role of ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) in helping people integrate positively into life in the UK and in preparing them for further education and employment.
Lord Khan met with an ESOL student who has gone on to volunteer in the classes, providing peer support. The student shared how the welcoming community of the ESOL classes and the opportunity to learn English had been a key factor in his growth in skills and confidence.
It was also an opportunity to emphasise to Lord Khan the growing demand for English language lessons and the need for increased funding for high-quality provision, to ensure that more people have the opportunity to gain the language, skills and confidence needed to help them thrive in their new communities.
During his visit, Lord Khan also spent time with people experiencing homelessness. He witnessed some of the activities that support individuals in transforming their lives when they access the warm and welcoming environment that Caritas Salford strives to create within its services.
The visit concluded with a meeting between Lord Khan, Bishop John Arnold, the Bishop of Salford, and Caritas Salford’s Director, Patrick O’Dowd. Together, they reflected on the importance of faith organisations in providing spaces of welcome and advocating for meaningful change.
Patrick O’Dowd commented:
“As well as providing a wide range of community and outreach services across Greater Manchester and Lancashire which support people to change their lives with dignity, a large part of our work is striving to address and change the issues, policies and other systems and process that drive them into those challenging situations in the first place.
“We’re really grateful to Lord Khan for his time and for coming along to hear more about out work and our recommendations for how lives could be improved for those people from our communities whose lives are significantly affected by poverty, displacement, homelessness and disadvantage.
“It was great to discuss ideas and thoughts on a range of subjects and that he was so interested in our suggestions to help people we work alongside. We look forward to continuing to engage with Lord Khan and others in national and local Government to hopefully bring about positive, life-altering change.”
Find out more about Caritas Salford’s policy and advocacy work
