Kiren Shafiq describes being part of Islamic Help in the summer of 2020. The group helped to deliver food and other basic supplies to people of all communities in Birmingham and other cities in the West Midlands in response to panic-buying at the start of the pandemic.
John Cotton, a Labour councillor in Birmingham, tells the story of in-work poverty and his campaign to make the local council introduce the Real Living Wage (RLW). All council staff and 17,000 employees are now paid the RLW and Birmingham has set up a Poverty Truth Commission to listen to those with lived experience of poverty.
Professor Nadia Valman tells the story of late nineteenth and early twentieth century strikes for better pay and working conditions in the East End of London. She explores how people from Irish and Jewish communities, in spite of differences, supported each other in solidarity when facing injustice and defending their rights.
