Lobby Day 2025
On Wednesday 18th June, Jon and Hannah, with Ruth from NCAN (Norfolk Community Advice Network) had the privilege of joining almost 700 other campaigners in parliament to lobby for an Essentials Guarantee. With 9.3 million people facing hunger and hardship across the UK due to the basic level of Universal Credit being at its lowest level as a share of average earnings, our collective services are being pushed to their limits. Alongside this are impending cuts in support for disabled people in the UK. Wednesday marked a key milestone in our campaign journey to change the welfare system so that it is fit for purpose. The campaign has seen many stories of hardship and hope being shared and a letter signed by several of our key Partners was handed over to MPs. We had the opportunity to speak with Alice Macdonald, Ben Goldsborough and Adrian Ramsay in Westminster Hall where we shared local stories and data of the current hardship many people are facing when accessing the foodbank. During the day, we heard extremely moving accounts from those with lived experience, together with being inspired by one of Trussell’s supporters, comedian Nish Kumar. We attended workshops on mapping out key people in our community who have a passion and the power to influence change and this is going to be a key aspect moving forward as we are setting up our own ‘Norwich Voices’ panel. If you have a heart for joining our campaigns panel or have a story to share about hardship and hope, please let us know: [email protected] or 07789 027611
When we handed over our letters we asked that the MPs would pledge to commit to the following asks:
- Bring in the full boost to Universal Credit from April 2026 instead of 2029 as is currently planned;
- Ensure the UK government seeks independent advice on setting the basic rate of Universal credit against the actual cost of essentials;
- Bring in a protected minimum floor on Universal Credit to limit all deductions taking someone’s income below the amount needed to live on.
It was great to be part of such a big event and join with one voice to lobby our MPs. We appreciate that Universal Credit is just one element of our data and sometimes only one challenge a lot of people face. Our lived experience panel will help inform us of issues, challenges and solutions that we can take forward on a local level to make a difference and have a positive impact on the next person who may need us and eventually, the impact will be that someone WON’T need us because of action we’ve taken You can read a bit more about lobby day on Trussell’s website here: Lobby Day