Coventry Poverty Alliance In partnership with Grapevine Coventry & Warwickshire, we have formed the Coventry Poverty Alliance, bringing together more than 60 organisations in the voluntary, community, faith and statutory sector who work on the front line responding to the cost-of-living crisis. Past collaborations have included campaigns on prepayment metres, a project to map the provision and gaps in energy advice services within the city, and activity to extend the alliance's reach to include even more grassroots organisations fighting against poverty to boost community engagement and have a voice in city council led initiatives. Aims of the alliance Deepen our understanding of the harm poverty is doing in our city and understand more about what's already happening to help people. Identify ways we can collaborate, get upstream and prevent some of the suffering we see. Forge an alliance that is built on the commitment and dedication of everyone involved to make the most difference we can to those in our city who have the least. Strategic priorities The two priorities we have identified for 2024 as making the most difference to people’s lives are: Action on Universal Creditsanctions Disability Living Allowance claims for children Background: Foodbanks and other partners in Coventry report high numbers of clients subject to sanctions and debt recovery by DWP that are subsequently experience hardship. Closer examination is revealing that in many instances sanctions have been incorrectly imposed but that those subjected to them are not properly equipped with the knowledge and tools to challenge them. When challenged sanctions are very often overturned and there is no time limit on making such challenges. But a lot of people still don’t feel they have the confidence or will to pursue that. With more people being migrated to Universal Credit from June 2024 it is expected that even more people will be subject to sanctions. Aims: Raise awareness of the issue of incorrect sanctions amongst partner organisations. Equip partner organisations with the knowledge and tools to support their clients to mount challenges to DWP sanctions. Capture details about instances of incorrectly applied sanctions to: Record the extent of benefit sanctions; Build a database of personal stories detailing the sanctions and their impacts. This campaign is supported by a project between the Law Centre and Public Law Project which provides specialist support by case workers to help people challenge Universal Credit sanctions while also gathering evidence of who is being challenged in order to identify and document any discriminatory application of sanctions. Find out more about how to support the campaign Background: There are families in Coventry that could be claiming Disability Living Allowance (DLA) but don’t. A lack of skills, confidence and capacity inside families and organisations is a big part of the reason. Aims: Provision of training organisations in using existing guides and resources. Partnering with schools on evidence standards and running a ‘check and send’ service for families. Manage Cookie Preferences