About Us
ATD FOURTH WORLD is a human rights-based, anti-poverty organisation with more than 40 years' experience of engaging with individuals and institutions to find solutions to eradicate extreme poverty in the UK.
Working in partnership with people affected by poverty, ATD Fourth World has, since 1968, concentrated its efforts on supporting families and influencing policy through work at Frimhurst Family House in Surrey and our National Centre in London. read more...
A member of the International Movement ATD Fourth World, we work in more than twenty-five countries throughout Europe, the Americas, Africa and Asia. We work with affiliated organisations in 90 other countries and have over 100,000 members worldwide.
As part of our commitment to representing people living in poverty at an international level, ATD Fourth World has a permanent delegation at the European Union and holds general consultative status with UNICEF, UNESCO, ECOSOC, the International Labour Organisation and the Council of Europe.
On 17 October 1987, ATD Fourth World was at the root of the laying of a Commemorative Stone honouring the victims of extreme poverty, violence and hunger on the Parvis des Droits de l'Homme et des Libertes in Paris. Five years later, the United Nations recognised 17 October as the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty and called on all nations to renew their commitment to fighting poverty and to show their solidarity with the poor.
Since then, more than thirty similar Commemorative Stones have already been laid around the world, from the European Parliament in Brussels to the Gardens of the United Nations in New York. Each one bears the words of Joseph Wresinski, the founder of the International Movement ATD Fourth World: "Wherever men and women are condemned to live in extreme poverty, human rights are violated. To come together to ensure that these rights be respected is our solemn duty."
Publications
Read the lastest edition of our regular journal, Dignity, here (pdf).
Or download the latest annual review (pdf).
Frimhurst Family House
Frimhurst Family House is a fully-modernised Victorian house set in its own extensive woodland and grounds and is, for many families, a refuge where parents and children can spend quality time together away from the stresses of daily life.
As the location for all residential aspects of ATD Fourth World's Family Support Programme, Frimhurst Family House aims to provide families with a setting in which to relax, to spend quality time together, to think clearly, to learn new skills, to meet other families in the same situation and to learn together in a respectful, non-judgemental environment. read more...
With residential accommodation for 30 people, a carpentry workshop, an art studio, dining facilities and disabled access, Frimhurst is also available to hire for a variety of purposes, including conferences, group meetings, wedding receptions, children’s parties and private classes.
For more information, contact:
Frimhurst Family House
Guildford Road
Frimley Green,
Surrey GU16 6NU
tel: 01252 835489
email: contact@atdfrimhurst.co.uk
The Roles We Play
The Roles We Play, a new, ten-minute film from ATD Fourth World and filmmaker and photographer Mihaal Danziger, is now free to be viewed here.
This participatory film, developed from the original photographic exhibition, documents the contribution people living in poverty can make to ATD Fourth World, to their communities and to civil society.
Filmed over three months, the participants were involved at every stage, from filming footage, sound recording and drawing storyboards to choosing excerpts to be used and the final edit. Read more...
In the words of one participant, “Working on the film has given me more confidence and with that confidence I can challenge myself more. I'm more confident in what I'm doing and how I speak to people, and the film gives us another avenue to put our points across. People in poverty are just as valuable to society as those with jobs and money, and the film shows that.”
The film will be screened at Whirled Cinema, Loughborough Junction on Tuesday 16 October as part of a series of events to mark the United Nations-recognised International Day for the Eradication of Poverty. Please contact ATD Fourth World UK for further information.
Our Voices, the result of a February 2012 film workshop featuring members of ATD Fourth World UK speaking out on the themes of poverty and dignity, is available to view here.
Giving Poverty a Voice
ATD Fourth World is proud to announce the launch of Giving Poverty a Voice.
This new project will strive to support people experiencing poverty and inequality in London to engage and participate in their communities and have their say on the decisions that affect their lives.
Using issue-based discussion forums, capacity-building workshops and examinations of the different opportunities and avenues to participate in the democratic process, our aim is for Giving Poverty a Voice to empower and encourage people to stand up and be heard. Read more...
Throughout the project, we will be looking to build a network with grass roots and community organisations across the borough and the capital to strengthen the links between diverse experiences and perceptions of poverty as well as planning meetings with local and regional policy and decision makers.
A blog to support the project can be seen here.
Giving Poverty a Voice is supported by Southwark Council.
Improving Support for Families in Poverty
In 2010 ATD Fourth World received funding from Oxfam to use the Sustainable Livelihoods Approach to map the lives of two large, extended families with first-hand experience of poverty in two deprived London boroughs.
The aim of the project was to focus on the positives in the families' lives and, from that basis, work through their difficulties in partnership not only with the families themselves but also the professionals involved in their lives.
According to Connor, one of the research participants, "It really helped me think about stuff that I hadn't thought of before. It made me realise that I shouldn't just spend my money every week like I had been doing, without thinking. If I could manage to do everything that we planned, like putting money on one side for a deposit, then we would all be much better off in the future." Read more...
The results of this research have now been published in Improving Support for Families in Poverty, a four page case study which covers the research findings, the methodology and the advantages of using the Sustainable Livelihoods Approach, and can be downloaded here or at www.oxfam.org.uk/policyandpractice.
The full report, This Is My Life, is available for download here.