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
Challenging Times
What a difference a year makes: a new government, new policies, new fears and new insecurities.
The impact of the recession and the cuts on families in poverty stirs much debate but the reality is quite simple: those with nothing still have nothing, but are now threatened with having even less.
At a recent meeting, one participant’s view was stark: “The government wants to get rid of the deficit very quickly; they want an instant legacy to prove to everyone that the coalition works. But what this is doing is creating a condition of fear amongst the poor, which is disgusting... We’re afraid that they will just give our homes to people who aren’t on benefits, to people who can afford them. It’ll be like social cleansing, moving us out of our neighbourhoods.” Read more...
Currently the recession and cuts in public spending are interacting with welfare reform on a massive scale. The most vulnerable families could possibly have weathered one or another, but now all three together are crashing in on them simultaneously.
Many of the organisations these families would turn to face increased demand for their services combined with reductions in funding and resources. At the same time, long-term strategies, preventive programmes and services for the disadvantaged are being cut by local authorities faced with impossible choices and unrealistic deadlines.
And yet ATD Fourth World’s experience demonstrates that joined-up, long-term thinking grounded in the expertise of people with first-hand experience of poverty is essential in producing innovative policy and practice. Our holistic Family Support Programme shows that families confronted by many difficulties can, given the right conditions and support, stand on their own two feet and take control of their lives.
We must stay hopeful that the infrastructure needed to nurture partnerships, dialogue and innovation remains in place and provides fresh opportunities and insight in these challenging times.
We thank you for your ongoing support.
Martin Kalisa, Daniel Kenningham and Sarah Kenningham
National Co-ordination Team
ATD Fourth World
This article is taken from the introduction to to the ATD Fourth World Annual Review 2010, which can be downloaded here.
A Diary of Family Support
ATD Fourth World’s Family Support Programme works alongside people facing challenges in areas such as housing, unemployment, health, benefits and lack of basic skills. For the past eighteen months Martin Kalisa has been supporting Louise as she negotiated her way towards adulthood. Here is how he explains their journey together.
“Louise grew up in the care of the local authority. At eighteen, she left care and was housed in supported accommodation before moving to an independent flat outside of London. Social Services remained involved with her and in Spring 2009, just before Louise’s twenty-first birthday, I met her social worker to evaluate their work with her and to think about her future. Read more...
I challenged the social worker about the support that had been provided for Louise. I asked why Louise did not even have basic skills even though she was under the responsibility of the local authority. The social worker told me that they had provided Louise with the best support they could and that it was time for her to take some responsibility for her future.
The other major issue facing Louise at the beginning of last year was housing; she had accrued rent arrears and the housing trust was taking her to court to evict her. Louise was understandably stressed by this but Joanna Kennedy, from Zacchaeus 2000 Trust, agreed to support her in court.
I decided to go to the benefit office with Louise to ask for help with the rent arrears; they said that there was nothing they could do. We went back to explain the work of ATD Fourth World in supporting the most disadvantaged families and to plead Louise’s case a second time. Half an hour later they said, “We are going to pay the housing trust £1,200. We can’t do any more than that.” That money covered more than half of Louise’s rent arrears! We could not believe it; neither could Joanna. The housing trust received a cheque for £1,200 the next day.
This taught me that people do have the power to support families if they want to. We still do not know where the money came from but Louise would not have seen a penny of it if we had not gone back and insisted on it. And it is clear to me that Louise would not have been supported had she gone alone.
With half of her rent arrears thus paid off we went back to court and agreed on a payment plan that Louise is still keeping to; she pays her rent and a little more each month to slowly clear her arrears (which will take more than eight years).”
This is an edited extract from an article in Dignity, the journal of ATD Fourth World, which can be downloaded here.
The Roles We Play
ATD Fourth World, in partnership with London-based artist Eva Sajovic, is proud to present a collection of new photographs in the exhibition The Roles We Play: Recognising the Contribution of People in Poverty.
Launched to mark the European Year for Combating Poverty and Social Exclusion, these portraits explore the roles played by those living in poverty within their families, communities and society at large. The aim is to highlight their efforts, recognise their contribution and challenge the negative attitudes often held towards vulnerable and excluded families in the UK. Read more...
To accompany the exhibition, those appearing in the photographs have written short texts to explain their lives, their hopes and their place in society as seen through their own eyes.
“I have three adult children but have, since before they were born, always been involved in some kind of community volunteering, often due to living in areas of high deprivation and need. I have taken part in reading schemes for children who were falling behind in school or who needed help learning English and I was for several years involved with a mobile project that brought play provision to the most dilapidated housing estates in Hackney. It is a poor borough but it is full of brilliant people.”
Moraene, anti-poverty campaigner
“I’m a mum with seven kids, and I have a son who’s autistic, so caring for my whole family day to day is a big job. I take the two younger ones to school every day. I help them with their homework, take them to the library and take them to the park… I like volunteering for their school trips. There are around thirty kids in each class, so they need a hand on visits to libraries and museums. I’d also like to help with the reading sessions they do in their classes in the future.”
Angela, future ambassador
“I work to defend human rights, fight against poverty and help other families through difficult times... I supported one family when they were fighting for their kid in the courts. I did it because I’m a friend. But I also did it because when I was in that position it was good to have someone else alongside me.”
Seamus, defender of human rights
Further information on this exhibition is available from ATD Fourth World on request.