Support from Major Book Launch
Acclaimed authors and social commentators, Mary O’Hara and Danny Dorling, fundraise for Become at the launch of new books 'Austerity Bites: 10 Years On' and 'Peak Injustice'. You can join them 'in conversation' on 19 September.
Mary O’Hara and Danny Dorling are launching new books Austerity Bites: 10 Years On and Peak Injustice this September.
The Guardian’s Simon Hattenstone will join them ‘in conversation’ at a special event on 19 Sep 2024, joined by Become’s Chief Executive Katharine Sacks-Jones, writer and actor Ben Moor who will perform an extract from Who Here’s Lost? and a section from his forthcoming show: All Things Now New, and the award-winning writer and comedian Grainne Maguire with her uniquely laugh-out-loud brand of stand-up
To mark this moment, Mary and Danny are asking readers and friends to make a voluntary donation – we suggest £15 or more but the amount is up to you – to Become to help fund services and campaigning for children in care and care-experienced young people.
The care system is facing some of its biggest challenges as the record number of children in care continues to rise whilst local authorities struggle to cope with a lack of foster and residential homes, soaring inflation and budgetary pressures. Children and young people are paying the price for a system in crisis.
The need to drive lasting change is greater than ever. Become is the national charity for care-experienced children and young people, and we have a vision of a better care system: one that ensures that all care-experienced people have the same chances as everyone else to live happy, fulfilled lives.
Make your donation and confirm if you are attending this special event at the Hen & Chickens Theatre from 7pm on 19 September. Please RSVP by completing the entire donation form. If you are unable to attend but would like to make a contribution, thank you.
PLEASE NOTE tickets are limited and will be distributed on a first come basis. This page will be manually updated once all tickets have gone. Your ticket is not 100% confirmed until you have heard from us.
If you aren’t able to attend the event due to limited capacity, you will be able to join us after for a separate meet & greet.
Copies of Austerity Bites: 10 Years On and Peak Injustice will be on sale at the event via Housman’s Bookshop, and Ben Moor will be selling his books too.
Austerity Bites: 10 Years On
Austerity has proven deadly. Over the last decade, the damage caused by austerity measures in the UK has had a long-lasting and profound effect on many lives. The first edition of Austerity Bites offered on-the-ground reportage of one of the most significantly regressive economic strategies of any post-war government. Over a year Mary O’Hara toured the UK to gauge the immediate impact – and expectations of people affected – and found many clinging to the hope that austerity cuts would not last long as the damage became increasingly apparent. Alas, this was not how things unfolded.
Instead, much of the Welfare State had its vital support systems systematically undermined. The public sector, including the NHS, is now on its knees. Schools are buckling under multiple structural and budgetary pressures. Councils – even big ones – are going broke. Homelessness is rampant.
While Brexit, the pandemic, and war have no doubt impacted the economic health of the country, previous austerity cuts left the UK less prepared to weather such extraordinary events.
With new commentary, Austerity Bites 10 Years On assesses on the true scale of the damage these policies have inflicted on the country’s most vulnerable groups, public institutions and on the wider society. It reflects on where we have been, where we are now and what needs to happen next to undo the damage and avoid the same mistakes again.
Peak Injustice
Although 2018 was a year of peak income and wealth inequality in the UK, absolute deprivation has continued to grow since then, especially after the pandemic.
Peak Injustice follows up the best-selling Peak Inequality (2018), offering a carefully curated selection of Danny Dorling’s latest published writing with brand new content looking to the future, including challenges for a new government in 2024/25, the impact of Jeremy Corbyn’s legacy, and the implications of Keir Starmer’s many blind spots.
Danny Dorling is Halford Mackinder Professor of Geography at the University of Oxford and a Fellow of St Peter’s College. He is a patron of RoadPeace, Comprehensive Future and Heeley City Farm.
Children and young people are paying the price...
107,317
record numbers of children in care in the UK.
82%
of care-experienced young people struggled to afford food last year.
1 in 4
people experiencing homelessness are care-experienced.
Mary and Danny are grateful to everyone who is able to donate. Make your contribution now
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Want to learn more about the impact of your support or have another question? Contact us by emailing [email protected] or calling Olivia on 07508 190701.