Catherine receiving the St Aidan's Church 'promises'

Catherine McKinnell, MP for Newcastle North, joined members of the St Aidan’s Church congregation at Brunton Park in her constituency on Sunday (27th February) to discuss the Micah Challenge’s ‘What’s Your Promise?’ campaign.

Catherine was invited by the Revd Canon Andrew Shipton, and local resident Dorothy Clasper, to outline the actions she is taking to fight global poverty and to officially receive the ‘promises’ of the St Aidan’s congregation.

The Micah Challenge is a global coalition of Christians mobilising churches to become part of the fight to end poverty. Their campaign, What’s Your Promise? has seen over 11,000 people in the UK making personal commitments to change their lifestyles so they remember the global poor in the decisions and actions they take. These promises have included commitments to buy more Fairtrade products, to give more to charity and to meet with their MPs.

Catherine said:

“I was delighted to meet up with St Aidan’s church members on Sunday to discuss how we can work together to fight global poverty.

“The Micah Challenge’s ‘What’s Your Promise’ campaign reminds us all of the need to think about the personal changes we can make to support people in developing countries, and it was very valuable to hear about the different promises my constituents have made.

“We also discussed my work with the ‘Publish What You Pay’ campaign – a global network of civil society organisations, including many church groups, which is calling for oil, gas and mining revenues to form the basis for development and improve the lives of ordinary citizens in resource-rich countries. Indeed, I am meeting this week with International Development Minister Alan Duncan to discuss how US legislation, which obliges all US companies engaged in oil, gas or mineral extraction to report how much they pay to each government in taxes, can be replicated in the UK. Being able to tell him I have the backing of churchgoers in my constituency gives more power to my elbow!

Catherine attending the 'What's Your Promise?' event in Parliament

 “I  also discussed with St Aidan’s members my particular interest in the Fairtrade movement – which I have been actively involved in for a number of years, most particularly during my time at University where I successfully campaigned for fair trade goods to be sold in all University outlets.”

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