The Competition
All interested young people are invited to submit an essay of no more than 2,500 words answering the following question:
The question this year is;
How can business reduce poverty?
The deadline is 22 October 2014.
The winning essay will be published prominently in the New Statesman magazine and on our award-winning website at Christmas.
A first prize of £1,000 will be awarded to the winner. The runner-up will receive £500.
Entrants must be between 18 and 25 years of age.
The results will be announced at an awards reception in London in December (all those whose entries are shortlisted will be invited).
Please submit your entry to Roxanne Mashari at info@appgpoverty.org.uk
Submitted entries will be judged by a panel including:
Richard Rawes (Chair, Webb Memorial Trust)
Jason Cowley (Editor, New Statesman)
Paul Hackett (Director, Smith Institute)
Lord Kinnock (Labour peer)
Kate Green MP (Chair, APPG Poverty)
More to be announced
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The Webb Memorial Trust shares a rich history of collaboration with this magazine. Beatrice Webb co-founded the New Statesman in 1913 with her husband, Sidney Webb, the socialist campaigner who became a Labour MP in 1922. In recent years our associated ventures have included supplements tackling issues of poverty and inequality in the UK today, with contributions from leading think-tank directors, heads of charities and policymakers.
In February 2012 the New Statesman, supported by the trust, produced a 15-page policy report that questioned not whether the government should be tackling poverty, but how. Kate Green MP, Chris White MP, Andrew Harrop and Paul Hackett were among the advisers and legislators who made the case for a fairer society.
In March 2013 we produced a second supplement, which focused on the myths about poverty that are grabbing headlines. How accurate are the perceptions of “benefit scroungers” and what effects do these attitudes have on those living below the poverty line? Christian Guy, Kate Henderson, Alison Garnham, Deborah Hargreaves and others discussed low pay, in-work poverty and the social housing stigma, highlighting proactive projects that have made a difference.
This year we collaborated on a third supplement debating whether civil society rather than the state should be the driving force behind the alleviation of poverty. Kenny Imafidon, Ruth Lister, Max Wind-Cowie, Paul Bunyan and John Diamond all contributed ideas on wider society could do to have a real impact, independent of government.
Never has the work of the trust been more important. Tough economic conditions, rising use of zero hours contracts and cuts to the welfare state have put more people than ever at risk of living in poverty. The New Statesman is proud to be partnered with this great institution.
The two supplements can be downloaded from the New Statesman website at: newstatesman.com/page/supplements.