This year, Thrive Teesside hosted an event in Stockton Town Centre, spreading awareness for the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty as well as creating conversation. The event also featured a presentation from Dr Jo Foster PHD, the theme being;
The social impact of de-industrialisation: lifelong learning for socio-economic inclusion or exclusion? With a round table discussion and Q&A at the end. We wanted to show solidarity in Stockton-On-Tees with people with lived experience of poverty, to demonstrate, despite division, our communities stay united.
We were joined by other groups on a National level to LIGHT UP THE UK MAP through our social media campaign and involvement with the APLE Collective . Documentation of our event as well as all of the other activities that happened all across the UK is available on our Twitter account, as well as the APLE Collective twitter- @aplecollective @thriveteesside
The International Day against the Eradication Of Poverty- Background
On 17 October 1987, ATD Fourth World initiated the World Day for Overcoming Poverty focused on Joseph Wresinski’s message:
“Wherever men and women are condemned to live in extreme poverty, human rights are violated. To come together to ensure that these rights be respected is our solemn duty.”
The day is a platform for people living in poverty to speak out about their lives and struggles and to invite others to join them in the fight to end poverty. In the words of one participant: “It’s our day. We can say what we have in our hearts without shame, without embarrassment.” Five years later, the United Nations recognised 17 October as the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty and called on all nations to renew their commitment to fighting poverty.
IDEP 2018- What we did last year.
Last year on this monumental day, community campaigners including Thrive Teesside took over stalls in Stockton Market on October 17th 2018, to raise awareness of local poverty and to press for change.
For a more in depth look at what Thrive Teesside did last year, click here.