Among Equals - November 2011

Welcome to the tenth issue of Among Equals, the quarterly campaign update from The Equality Trust. Please support our campaign by printing a few copies to distribute.

A PDF version of this newsletter is available here to download and print

Egalitarians gather for our second annual conference

On 12 November, supporters and local group campaigners came together with staff from The Equality Trust and One Society, for a day of workshops and talks on topics such as working with schools and young people, overcoming the barriers to greater equality and developing a local equality campaign group.

"I enjoyed meeting like-minded people and the sense that things meight get less unequal in the future!"

- comment from conference evaluation form

In the plenary sessions Bill Kerry presented a review of the Trust's year and launched our new campaign Act Local = Reduce the Gap.

Read more about the day and watch Terence Bermingham's slide-show of photographs: equalitytrust.org.uk/2011-conference

Become a supporter: equalitytrust.org.uk/community/supporters

Join a local group: equalitytrust.org.uk/community/groups

Welcome Judith and Sean to The Equality Trust steering group

We are delighted to announce that Judith Moran and Sean Baine have joined The Equality Trust steering group.

Judith Moran is director of Quaker Social Action, an east London charity which supports people on low income to find solutions to the issues affecting their lives.

"I work for an anti-poverty charity where every day I see the consequences of our unequal society. Joining the steering rgoup is an opportunity - and responsibility - to utilise my skills and energies to contribute to a more just society"

Sean Baine is co-chair of the London Equality Group.

"I have been involved with the London Equality Group for nearly two years having been inspired by the messages in The Spirit Level. During that time I have also been involved in TET parliamentary business trying to established a committed groups of MPs and Lords. My background in the voluntary and community sectors has given me experience of governance issues and therefore, when the opportunity to apply for a place on the Steering Group arose I jumped at it - a very important issue where I felt I could use my accumulated expertise."

Please support our new campaign

The 2010 British Social Attitudes Survey found that the majority of people think the chief executive of a large company should be paid no more than six times the pay of a typical factory worker.

Yet evidence collated by One Society indicates that pay gaps are, on average, 15 to 1 in local councils and a huge 262 to 1 in FTSE 100 companies.

We are calling on local councillors to play their part in tackling the UK's shocking pay inequality. They have the power to bring about change through their own pay policies and also, crucially, their influence on private-sector contractors.

Learn more, order a campaign pack and contact your local councillors at our website:equalitytrust.org.uk/act-local-reduce-the-gap

Occupying the news agenda

Inequality has dominated the news in recent weeks. From the inspiring grass roots activism of the Occupy movement, to the intervention of religious leaders including Archbishops John Sentamu & Rowan Williams, the voices calling for change are increasing in volume and diversity.

In another example of the growing interest, a lecture given by our co-director Richard Wilkinson for TED Global was shown in full on CNN, has been viewed online more than half a million times - and a very interesting and detailed debate has been developing in the comments!

Keep up with the latest coverage at our facebook page: facebook.com/equalitytrust

Watch Richard's lecture and join the debate at: ted.com/talks/richard_wilkinson.html

European Inequality Watch network

Member organisations of new European network Inequality Watch gathered in Paris this October for the launch of their website, which brings together the work of all member groups.

Anna Barford attended on behalf of The Equality Trust to speak about inequality in the UK and meet representatives from the Italian, Hungarian, French and Portuguese groups.

Find out more from: inequalitywatch.eu

Read our brand new fact-sheets

One of the initiatives showcased at our recent conference was the new series of fact-sheets, starting with briefings on social mobility and child well-being. The fact-sheets are designed for everyone: members of the general public, those affected by inequality and those who address these issues in their work.

They form part of our commitment to provide quality materials that allow people to quickly and easily engage with the evidence. We would like to thank the generous sponsor who funded this project. Further fact-sheets will be released over the course of the next year or so.

Download from: equalitytrust.org.uk/resources

News from Equality West Midlands

"Members of Equality West Midlands have been getting together at the Friends Meeting House in Central Birmingham over the last few months and the group has been quietly growing. In November we had a launch meeting where TET's Bill Kerry spoke, along with members of the London group, Peter Robbins and Tina Roberts. We then followed up with an AGM, elected a committee and established working teams. This seems to have really set things in motion as the different small groups begin to take action.

Our Public Awareness Team is hoping to be present with literature to share at the National Indoor Arena on the 30^th of November, the day of the Public Sector strike. Also, we have invited Danny Dorling to speak in February, and we expect a large turnout. This will be the first of a range of talks.

We are also investigating projects, including our members talking to groups and schools, an Equality Declaration for the local elections in 2012, and even making and showing a film about income inequality.

Currently we have 50 members on the mailing list and our very active Facebook group has 90. You are welcome to join that group Equality West Midlands and to join our mailing list: http://eepurl.com/eGIlg

With the growing publicity surrounding income inequality, we expect this to grow quickly as the group becomes more active. We'd love to hear from local people interested in helping us campaign, or other groups with ideas for projects. We can be contacted by email at equalitywestmidlands@gmail.com"

The Equality Trust