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A note from emerge poverty free/WER Chief Executive Alex Haxton.

 In my 16 years of working with World Emergency Relief UK (WER) I have seen that the greatest suffering is caused not by any one disaster or conflict, but by poverty.

By this I mean the kind of poverty that means starvation, the kind of poverty that means illiteracy and untreated sickness.  The kind of poverty that holds its victims in a grip from which they will never escape no matter hard they work, whatever their dreams may be.

Since 1995 World Emergency Relief has helped millions of people in earthquakes and droughts; famines and floods.  But WER is at its most effective when we look at the root causes for a problem and we find time and again that poverty is this root.  It is the greatest cause of suffering.

Our new name reflects this focus.  Under the new banner emerge poverty free the charity will still provide disaster relief where appropriate, but its work on sustainable development will be pushed to the forefront.  

Our new name is an expression of hope and optimism.  It says that  making the world “poverty free” is an achievable goal.

This might seem ambitious but history shows us what can be achieved.  When, in the 18th Century, early economist Adam Smith suggested that poverty in Britain could effectively be ended, many quarters derided this end as impossibly unrealistic and in some cases even as undesirable.   But the conditions in which the poor lived and died 100 years ago would simply not be tolerated now. 

Many of us rightly worry about some of the social ills of economic development but the ending of absolute poverty is undeniable and it is arguably this country’s greatest achievement of the last century.  

I believe that the end of absolute poverty can also be achieved across the world and that this should be the aim of any serious aid agency working in development.   

Of course no one agency will be able to do this alone, any more than one person could.

emerge poverty free will continue to work together with people, communities and organisations across the world to bring about this vision of a world that is poverty free and we acknowledge the shared aims and great work being carried out by other organisations with the same goal.

What has always marked WER as different is our grassroots approach.  We support locally led projects that will ensure a lasting impact.  It is very important to me that emerge poverty free works in the same way, empowering people to help themselves.

But I want our supporters to feel empowered as well, because the fight against poverty is not some remote aspiration.  It is the actions of people here and now that will make the difference.  emerge poverty free  is asking our supporters for more than just money.  We want people to be able to engage with us at many different levels and as part of our new identity we will be offering many more ways for supporters to get involved with our work.

To reflect this grassroots approach emerge poverty free has opted for a no-nonsense launch.  Rather than spending much needed funds on an event, I and other staff are taking to the streets to raise money for our projects and to talk about our work.

The whole WER team from volunteers to trustees and staff will be out collecting cash in the week following the launch at London Underground stations.

I and my team will be at Holborn Station on the 20th June, Bromley by Bow on the 21st, Canary Wharf on the 22nd and Aldgate East in the 23rd where we will be collecting cash donations and giving out information about emerge poverty free.

If you would like to volunteer to join us or if you would like to learn more about the changes ahead then please contact me on alex@wer-uk.org