Robin Gill reviews Life on the Breadline by @chrisshannahan.bsky.social in @churchtimes.bsky.social: 'a deeply passionate book'...'This is the necessary prophetic voice of an archetypical Christian Dissenter.' 20% off orders this week via the link at the end: www.churchtimes.co.uk/articles/202...

Book review: Life on the Breadline: Theology, poverty and politics in an age of austerity by Chris Shannahan

This is more radical than C of E bishops are, says Robin Gill

churchtimes.co.uk

I have very few parenting hacks, but one unexpected one has been re-branding insects. "AAAAHH....wait! It's just a Simon the Adventure Bug!' screamed my 9yo when a woodlouse invaded her toilet trip today. Turns out re-naming them after middle-aged office managers diffuses the fear factor entirely.

Really grateful for Mwenza from @foodandsolidarity.bsky.social repping the north-east and speaking out so clearly about the grim picture of #ukpoverty2026 as a continued political choice, and highlighting the urgent need for collective care and action on issues such as rent control.

This year we are practicing celebrating more. Because why not? So tonight that looks like going all-in on tenuously-remaining-contestant-themed snacks for the @thetraitors.bsky.social finale!

Thanks so much to the @britsoci.bsky.social for funding our regional postgraduate event today in Newcastle! So many fascinating presentations already. Looking forward to a screening of a local film about community, resilience and hope this afternoon!

PGRs interested in ‘social transformation’ - come and join us and share your work at a free, friendly day conference in Newcastle on the 17th July! CfP open until this Friday. PGR presentations and then a showing/discussion of a wonderful film, ‘100 People’ with the filmmaker. Please share!

Still buzzing after a brilliant away day with the Centre for Peace and Security at Coventry Uni last week. It's just absolutely full of committed, thoughtful, passionate researchers who are using research to make the world a better place and it's a privilege to get to study there.

One of the things I notice coming from a biomedical/public health background into the social sciences is just how much language is absolutely foreign to me. Every day in articles (+my emails!) are words I don't understand. It's exciting but also part of me wants to push back. Why so much fanciness?

#TraitorsUk #TheTraitors I really want someone to tell Alexander “Look at where you are Look at where you started The fact that you're alive is a miracle” #Hamilton

This is my very favourite subtitle mistake of all time.

The peace of the sea is always a gift to me.

Yesterday I learned that in 2004, a group of Welsh sheep were quarantined because they were a threat to millions of £s worth of national infrastructure What did they do that was such a threat? They learned to cross cattle grids. By tucking in their legs and rolling. I can’t stop thinking about it

I'm sure this was coincidence, but I want to believe that having a mammy researching faith responses to hardship (including food insecurity) fed into this response. That said, my older kid keeps me humble by regularly telling me I should be doing something that actually changes the world, so...

Dave Johnson@daveyj90.bsky.social · 2y ago

At the Carol service my youngest responded to “he has filled the hungry with good things and sent the rich away empty” with a whispered “yesssssss!” I’d like to apply for this to be added to the official liturgy for the season

Really loved that my 7-year-old was practising good and healthy disagreement in school this week - building confidence in listening respectfully and saying 'I agree because...' and 'I disagree because...' Primary schools so often feel to me (from the outside) like positive little micro-societies.

Aging is so underrated. Your peers are more interesting, and conversations richer. You're able to revisit books you first read twenty years ago. There is less jealousy, and God willing less pride. It's just a great time of life, aside from the thing that contains you (or is you) falling apart.

Motivational Christmas nails and fairy lights to help with the sniffly writing efforts this week. Will it be enough? We’ll see!

I had a conversation this morning that reminded me that it is okay to find things that are objectively hard, hard. I find it extremely easy to remind other people of this, and extremely difficult to remind myself of this. I'm thankful for external perspective.

*Call for researchers, teachers and practitioners in religious groups - share widely* Save the date: SocRel Response Day 2025! This years SocRel Chair's Response day will be held at King's College London on the 29th March 2025, 10am - 5pm. The theme will be Religion, Disability and Neurodiversity.

I’m really keen to do some learning about external organisations doing arts projects in traditionally working-class communities. I have some internal bias about how *sometimes* that sort of work feels like it comes with top-down, imposed, middle class assumptions. I want to interrogate that… 1/2

Just discovered by chance that John McKnight passed away last month. His work and thinking on ABCD, all about the strengths of communities and how we might spot, connect up and strengthen those assets, has been so important to me in making sense of my community experiences. I'm grateful for him.

David Brindle@brindled.bsky.social · 2y ago

A few words on the great John McKnight, father of asset-based community development (ABCD) www.theguardian.com/society/2024...

Just a reminder: All vaccines used in public health have been rigorously tested. Their benefits greatly outweigh their risks. While a few people have a medical reason for not taking vaccines, most people (and the population overall) will benefit. Doctors who claim otherwise are irresponsible.

Wealth inequality = health inequality. Where all but the very richest lose out. The underlying mechanisms are complex and varied, but that’s the headline, as far as I understand it. We know what we need to do to fix this - but is the political will there?

Joseph Rowntree Foundation@jrf-uk.bsky.social · 2y ago

Today's ONS stats illustrate the devastating impacts of poverty on life expectancy. Most areas across Great Britain have experienced a fall in life expectancy. 📢 With some of the most deprived areas having the lowest expectancy. 1/3

My new favourite tradition is hiding some money with the decorations when you put them away, so you can treat yourself to fancy shmancy nibbles and a drink in the skint Christmas lead-up as a reward for managing to get the Christmas tree up.

When I was interviewed for my current youth work role in the Church of England I was asked “what do you think is the biggest challenge the CofE faces re children’s and youth work?” I answered that a church that is scared of decline and so pursues growth at all costs will likely crush or harm 1/2

Al Barrett@al-barrett.bsky.social · 2y ago

Revd Angela Sheard & I recently discovered we had a shared passion: for a space to be opened within the Church of England for an honest, questioning, and theologically rooted conversation about the dominant language of 'growth'… 1/2 thisestate.blogspot.com/2024/12/why-...

Had the best discussions today with my little groups of @brilliantclub.bsky.social Year 10 students about critical thinking… misinformation… trust… objectivity and subjectivity… reliability of sources and more. They are just so smart, thoughtful and funny and it’s a joy to work with them.

Whamageddoned on December 4th. In an ASDA cafe, of course. One of my most irrationally strongly held opinions is that ASDA cafes are always Disappointing. Today is another data point for the graph. And yet I am drawn back to them time and time again, like a moth to a flame.

I was so sure I wasn’t going to decorate for Christmas this weekend, then someone sent us a tiny tree in the post and things escalated and I’m not mad about it (though it’s possible that Biscuit is, just a little)

Had the most lovely time yesterday gathering people to make rag wreaths. Doing a proper wreath workshop (as lush as they are) is always out my budget, so I tentatively asked on the local FB page if anyone wanted to make the cloth versions with me. Nearly 40 people came along and it was pure joy.

This is a really lovely story. Flooring is so expensive, and I've been in so many houses where people just don't have the resources to spend on it - yet it makes such a difference to your quality of life. I've long wondered why social housing providers so often strip out floors between tenants.

The woman helping council tenants carpet their homes

Pia Honey is campaigning for social housing to come with flooring as standard.

bbc.co.uk