Runnymede Trust and New Economics Foundation are pleased to announce that we are partnering on a three-year project to address the root causes of poverty, inequality and problem debt. Power to Prosper is an ambitious programme that seeks to shift the balance of power in our political and economic systems to generate the conditions in which everyone can thrive. We pursue prosperity in its most generous sense, aiming to empower people with the wealth and security we all need to live healthy, happy and fulfilling lives.

Our partnership is based on a shared understanding that the existing status quo cannot deliver these outcomes. A collision of crises from Covid to the cost of living makes it clear that we are not ​“all in this together”. We know that the relationship between poverty and problem debt is not simple, and that debt is a symptom of a much wider issue. Our economy has been shaped so that it works for corporate power and wealthy elites, creating financial systems that produce deep inequality which hits certain groups the worst. The root causes of the cost of living crisis are built into our economic systems, which need urgent and fundamental change.

Black and minority ethnic communities, single parent families and households with a disabled member have always been unfairly exposed to disproportionate levels of poverty and debt. In recent years, we have seen that translate to tragic levels of material deprivation, housing precarity, food insecurity and fuel poverty.

Our economy disadvantages those from lower and more unstable incomes, and exposes communities to a poverty premium which takes more from those with the least. Power to Prosper looks beyond individualised, short term solutions, to promote a transformed economy that guarantees everyone financial security and a decent standard of living.

Those worst impacted by these issues must be at the centre of the change we need, which can only be achieved by building collective power. Power to Prosper will build a coalition of organisations representing communities whose voices desperately need to be heard. Through these networks we will create a local, regional and nationally impactful programme that makes the case for an overhaul to our economic, social security and financial systems, with the leadership of those most impacted firmly at the forefront.

Only by telling an honest, powerful story about the relationship between poverty, inequality and problem debt can we create the momentum for a better future. We all deserve to live with dignity, security and enough to thrive. Power to Prosper aims to power that shift. 

Power to Prosper is funded by Oak Foundation, which, through its grant-making, supports others to make the world a safer, fairer, and more sustainable place to live.

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