Action on Poverty and Hardship at Staffordshire University

For over a decade, services available for people experiencing hardship have been increasingly stretched while funding has been drastically reduced. Our brand new course, developed in consultation with local and national voluntary and charity organisations, will give you the expertise and practical, sector-specific skillset you need to spearhead the ongoing battle against social injustice.

This course is uniquely centred around the importance of the ‘lived experience’ of those experiencing poverty, hardship and social inequalities, in recognition of the expertise, knowledge and vital insight they hold. It places importance on listening to people facing difficulties, offering an opportunity for them to share their direct experiences with decision makers and become involved in policy setting processes. The aim of the course is to empower students to take action and create change, driving anti-poverty agendas and affecting the decisions that impact on them, their community and wider society.

As a higher education institution and a cornerstone of the local community, Staffordshire University has a social responsibility to contribute positively to the local area, becoming a force for change that improves the prosperity of our regional economy and enhances the quality of life of our students and residents. As part of that commitment, this is a high quality, timely and relevant activism-based degree that holds the expertise of those with lived experience of poverty central to its values and critical to achieving lasting and real impact.

At every level of this course, you will understand the key causes and drivers of poverty and hardship and learn how you can take action to bring about real, lasting and meaningful change. On completion of the course, you will have had an integrated theoretical, action-based and reflective learning experience which will see you join the working world as a change maker of the future, able to empower and amplify the voices of those experiencing hardship and poverty.