Solidarity Not Charity by Sara Barron
Sara Barron is a Baptist minister in Cornwall and also works for CURBS, which supports those working with children in marginalised communities. This reflection was first published in "In the Thick of It" booklet, a collaboration by CWM, The United Reformed Church (URC), and Joint Public Issues Team (JPIT).
I spent most of the last 16 years living and working on a
large outer urban estate of 33,000 people. The most deprived wards in Hampshire sit in this estate which had a significant number in financial poverty. Therefore, there was much input given, often not what was needed, and much came from a place of judgement and power. Marginality came with a postcode, as it was perpetuated by those living round the outside of the estate who looked down on the people in it. Recently I have moved to a small fishing town in Cornwall, a rural context where wealth and poverty sit together with little interaction. Cornwall is the poorest county in UK with average wages touching £15,000pa, far below the national average. Multiple deprivation indices are high in just one area where those who service the tourist industry live. Here marginalisation comes in the form of isolation with lack of transport, seasonal low paid work and high housing costs.
I work two days a week for CURBS who support, train and resource those working with children in marginalised communities. My husband and I are Baptist ministers and half our time is focused in the community where we have been missional listening for the last year looking for where God is at work and joining in where we are invited. It is like living in a goldfish bowl as people watch to see ‘does it work’ – hope comes from seeing that Jesus works whatever is going on in life. You need to be your vulnerable self – people want real. Joseph Rowntree Foundation figures show that 1 in 8 households in full time work fall below the minimum income standard (MIS) and this is a rising figure. Child poverty has risen by 500,000 in the last 5 years. The biggest single factor which creates marginalisation is the growing feeling of isolation that people feel.
Photo courtesy of Getty Images.
28
INSiGHT | August 2020
June 2019 | 8
