By Hollie Griss, Communications and Media Officer at Resolve Poverty
To mark the 200th edition of our newsletter, we take a look back at the last 11 years and share our landmark moments – from publishing our first newsletter in 2013, to rebranding in 2024.
Our beginnings (2013-2016)
- In 2013, Graham Whitham convened committed stakeholders to discuss what could be done locally to tackle poverty in Greater Manchester – and Greater Manchester Poverty Action (GMPA) was born.
- In July 2014, Chris Bagley, our voluntary communications manager from 2013-23, published the first edition of our newsletter to an audience of 60 people.
- In December 2014, we launched the first ever Greater Manchester Poverty Monitor, with support from colleagues at the University of Manchester and The Church of England.
- In 2016, GM Poverty Action Limited was formally constituted, and we established four special interest groups to bring together local stakeholders and identify joint action on poverty.
Driving the anti-poverty agenda in Greater Manchester (2017-20)
- In 2017, we took over ownership of the Greater Manchester Living Wage Campaign.
- In 2018, we convened the Greater Manchester Food Poverty Alliance, launched our Principal Partners Scheme (with Macc and Manchester Credit Union among some of the first to sign up), and in September, delivered our first ever training course – ‘Understanding Poverty Definitions, Measurement and Data’.
- In April 2019, we co-organised a conference with the Joseph Rowntree Foundation and University of Manchester – ‘From poverty to prosperity for all’.
- In August 2020 we launched our first podcast, with our first guest being Andy Burnham, Mayor of Greater Manchester.
- In December 2020, we launched our ‘Strengthening the role of local welfare assistance‘Â report, which identified recommendations for local councils across Greater Manchester to improve their local welfare assistance schemes.
Expanding our work within and beyond Greater Manchester (2021-24)
- In 2021, we launched the Local Authority Officers’ Forum, Tameside Poverty Truth Commission and Money Advice Referral Tool, and developed a new guide for local and combined authorities on voluntary adoption and implementation of the socio-economic duty.
- In June 2022, we launched our Money Matters debt and benefits advice programme in partnership with Kellogg’s.
- In August 2022Â we had our first appearance on Sky News, as the cost-of-living crisis began to escalate.
- In October 2022 we held our first full-day conference, the ‘Cost of Living Conference’, which was attended by over a hundred people.
- In January 2023, CEO Graham Whitham gave evidence to MPs at a hearing of the Work and Pensions Select Committee.
- In February 2023, we launched our landmark ‘Local Anti-Poverty Strategies‘ report and appeared on BBC Breakfast, as the cost-of-living crisis continued to dominate headlines.
- In April 2023 we held our first ever parliamentary event, on our ‘Local Anti-Poverty Strategies’ report.
- In January 2024 we held a parliamentary roundtable event on the impact of our Money Matters programme, in partnership with Kellogg’s.
- In March 2024Â we held our second conference, ‘The Power of Place in Tackling Poverty‘, which was attended by 170+ people from across the country.
- In June 2024, our time as ‘Greater Manchester Poverty Action’ came to an end as we evolved to ‘Resolve Poverty‘ – adopting a new name and brand that mirror our expanded scope of work as we seek to work with localities across the country to end poverty nationally.
- Today, on 4 September 2024, we publish the 200th edition of our newsletter to an audience of 2.9k people.
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This article is featured in our 4 September newsletter.
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