Presbyterian general assembly: Stormont departments urged to collaborate on anti-poverty strategy

At the Presbyterian (PCI) general assembly in Belfast, the church’s public affairs officers told members that more than 26,000 people in Northern Ireland are recorded as having used a Trussell food bank for the first time this year – and that the total number across all of the providers is much higher.​

Karen Jardine said: “It’s impossible to turn on the news or open a paper without being confronted by the avalanche of budgetary cuts across government departments in Northern Ireland, which will only compound the cost of living crisis being experienced by so many.

"PCI congregations are responding to these challenges in different ways through school uniform schemes, providing warm spaces, coffee hubs and lunch clubs, discrete financial assistance, or formal partnership with organisations like the Trussell Trust and Christians Against Poverty.”

Following the debate, a number of anti-poverty and related resolutions were passed by delegates.

The general assembly has resolved to “call on the governing authorities in Northern Ireland to prioritise the most vulnerable in society in their budgetary decisions in the midst of the cost of living crisis”. Members also called on the NI Executive departments “to work collaboratively towards the development and implementation of effective anti-poverty measures which address the root of the problem rather than its symptoms”.