End Hunger Fast

Often started by churches to support families through a short term crisis, food bank numbers began to balloon in 2013 driven by a combination of low pay, payday lending and welfare reform.

Despite this growing scandal, of the return of hunger to the UK social policy environment, precious little was being said at a national level and there was almost no heat on the government that had overseen it’s rise.

End Hunger Fast was our response. We sought an accessible and credible way to highlight the return of hunger at speed and volume - and the religious tradition of fasting during Lent provided the entry point.

Working with a small group of volunteers (Rev Keith Hebden, Andy May & Clare Coatman) and in partnership with the Trussell Trust we laid the foundations for the campaign: a public letter from Church leadership & a public Call to Action inviting people to fast in solidarity with those going hungry.

On February 19th the campaign landed on the Daily Mirror’s front page labelled a Divine Intervention.

Over the next six weeks we landed five front pages, had 10,000 people fast in solidarity with those going hungry and attracted 75,000 supporters. Rev Hebden led a 40 day fast and, when the police were called on him and the Bishop of Oxford as they sought to deliver our second public letter to David Cameron’s constituency office, the Prime Minister was forced to meet us in embarrassed apology.

The coalition made some of its first concessions on the pace and shape of welfare reform in response to our campaign and the rise of hunger was put firmly on the map. The whole campaign lasted less than 8 weeks, cost less than £5,000 and was handed over to friends in Church Action on Poverty who continued the work.

Lessons on mobilising existing constituencies through actions they can identify with it are drawn from End Hunger Fast in the blog post On Action.