Covid Mutual Aid
A Message from the Equality Trust
First of all, from all of us at The Equality Trust, I hope that you and yours are keeping safe and well. It’s no exception to say we are living in unprecedented times.
I am really proud to say that The Equality Trust staff are stepping up, not only in adapting to a different way of working as we began working from home last week, but also because everyone is working in their communities to lend their support. I have never been prouder of staff than now.
As an organisation we are using our connections and influence to support other charities, economic justice organisations and sector infrastructure organisations, to factor inequalities and their impacts into their work and their strategies for the coming months. As you know from our work, millions of households do not have savings, cannot access resources and are, with their children, facing severe poverty.
COVID 19 has thrown all the rules out the window.
It has exposed the rapacious economic system that puts profit before people and promotes a Darwinian survival of the fittest. Those who are most vulnerable, both medically and economically, will be the first to suffer. Meanwhile Richard Branson wants a bailout…
We are likely to see a huge change in how our society works, and the real question is, will it be better than before? Or are we doomed to patch up a broken system and return to increased economic and power imbalances?
And yet, there are positive actions arising from this.
Our communities are amazing: within 6 days, Over 1000 ‘Mutual Aid’ groups were formed with tens of thousands of people volunteering to support the most vulnerable in our communities. We strongly encourage you to get involved in those groups and encourage others to reconnect with their community. We are here to support our local groups who are lending a hand. We all have a part to play and I know as Equality Trust supporters, you are doing what you can.
To find your local COVID Mutual Aid group, please visit https://covidmutualaid.org/local-groups/.
You will find local organising groups and lots of safe resources to support your neighbourhood.
You can also read about this community movement in The Guardian.
We truly believe that as more people realise the privations that many have lived under for the past decade, the real price of income inequality and the abject lack of a real social security blanket.
As Professor Kate Pickett, our co-founder and Chair said in Quartz:
The Equality Trust will not benefit from the measures announced to support business. We rely heavily on your donations to keep us going and at this time, it is essential to keep inequality in the public eye, in the minds of politicians and the media and on the radar of local councils. We believe that there is a real chance for the change we seek, to create a fairer society and we need to survive this crisis. We know that many of you will have other priorities at this time, but we ask you to remember us in the months to come, if you are able to donate to support our work. If there are ways in which we can support you and your organising, then please do let us know.
As Professor Richard Wilkinson, our co-founder and Patron has observed, “It's physical, not social distancing that matters. We need to enhance our social embrace while we increase our physical distance.”
In solidarity,
Dr Wanda Wyporska