Hugh Jackman Supports New ‘Live Below the Line’ Campaign. Live On £1 a Day – Could You Hack It?
Howard Lake | 23 March 2011 | News
March 2011
Hugh Jackman Supports New ‘Live Below the Line’ Campaign
Live On £1 a Day – Could You Hack It?
Medium skinny latte to kick start the morning; £2.65, BLT for lunch with a juice; £3.50, muffin for an afternoon snack; £1.50, quick take-away after work; £8. Most of us won’t even bat an eyelid at spending over £15 each day, just on treats, and that doesn’t even include what we spend on food at home!
Can you imagine reducing your food and drink spend to only £1 per day? This May, over 5,000 Britons will be choosing to do so – they will Live Below the Line.
The campaign – created by the Global Poverty Project and supported by Actor Hugh Jackman – is asking the public to cut their spending on food and drink to just £1 a day for five days (2-6 May 2011). The aim is to raise awareness of the 1.4 billion people who have no choice but to live on £1 a day every day.
Hugh Jackman says: “This is an incredible campaign that really gives us the chance to understand the realities of extreme poverty. It is certainly a challenge to eat and drink off of £1 a day for 5 days, but for 1.4 billion people, £5 is all they have not only for food and drink, but also for living costs, clothing – everything! Live Below the Line highlights the challenge that over one billion people are faced with everyday and urges us to do something about it, which is why I’m so proud to be supporting this important cause. ”
Live Below the Line will raise £500,000 for UK charities working to end extreme poverty by recruiting 5,000 people to take part in the five day challenge and asking their friends, family and work places to sponsor them. The Global Poverty Project is asking Britons to sign up to do the challenge for one of the major charity partners of Live Below the Line: The Salvation Army International Development (UK), Christian Aid, Restless Development, Think Global and RESULTS UK.
To take part in Live Below the Line, people can register from today at www.livebelowtheline.org.uk. The website includes tips, recipes and the opportunity to create your own fundraising page.
Harry Potter actress Bonnie Wright is another celebrity supporter of the campaign who is taking part in the Live Below the Line challenge: “We live in a western world where there is an abundance of food, which we eat way too much of; rather than it being a necessity to survive. Live Below the Line has allowed me to realise the struggle people face to feed their family. In order to raise awareness and gain further understanding I am going to challenge myself! Why not join in?”
As a special incentive to sign up within the next month, people who participate and raise over £200 for one of the charity partners between 10th March and 10th April will be in with the chance to meet Hugh Jackman!
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For more information on Live Below the Line, please contact the press office at Haygarth on 020 8971 3300 or Ka*****@*********co.uk and Ju***********@*********co.uk
For interviews with Elisha London, Global Poverty Project Country Director, please contact Haygarth at the above addresses.
Please credit Bonnie Wright’s photograph as by photographer Jessie Craig.
About Global Poverty Project:
• The Global Poverty Project’s vision is a world without extreme poverty within a generation. They exist to increase the number and effectiveness of people taking action to end extreme poverty.
• The Global Poverty Project was launched alongside the UN High Level Summit on the MDGs in September 2008, and launched in the UK in February 2010.
• Global Poverty Project recognises that development is a complex field. Their focus is on communicating development issues and enabling action in the general public. To that end, their policy change objectives are in the areas of aid quantity, aid quality, global trade, equitable trade, and the Millennium Development Goals
About the Salvation Army International Development (UK)
The Salvation Army International Development (UK) supports developing communities all around the world in the battle against poverty. Its mission is to resource, empower, and support these communities to defeat poverty and injustice and to enable them to build a better life and future. They encourage people to understand the issues around injustice, and to take action to restore our world as a place where justice, dignity and equality are a reality for all people.
About Christian Aid
Christian Aid is a Christian organisation that insists the world can and must be swiftly changed to one where everyone can live a full life, free from poverty.
They work globally for profound change that eradicates the causes of poverty, striving to achieve equality, dignity and freedom for all, regardless of faith or nationality.
About Restless Development– the youth-led development agency nt (formerly SPW).
Restless Development’s mission is to place young people at the forefront of change and development. They help young people make responsible choices for themselves, equipping them with the motivation and skills to contribute to their societies. Restless Development create opportunities for young people to play an active role in policy making and train other organisations and institutions on how to work with and for them.
About Think Global
Think Global helps people in the UK learn about global issues such as poverty and climate change and find out how they can play a part in creating a more
just and sustainable world. Their work is concentrated in schools, such as the Global Dimension, and on youth work through our Global Youth Action project for young people.
About RESULTS UK
RESULTS are a grassroots led advocacy organisation that is working to end extreme poverty worldwide. We support ordinary people to work closely with policy-makers and parliamentarians at all levels of government to create the political will to end poverty.
Further details about Live Below the Line:
• Internationally, the Extreme Poverty Line is defined as US$1.25 a day(2005 ppp), around £1 a day in the UK
• Live Below the Line is a new awareness-raising and fundraising campaign designed to help the public understand the challenges faced by those currently living in extreme poverty.
• 1.4 billion people in our world currently live below this line – lacking the basic choices and opportunities. By choosing to Live Below the Line in 2011, you can get a better understanding of the obstacles inherent in living on less than £1 a day, and raise money to support charities working to end extreme poverty.
About Howard Lake
Howard Lake is consultant editor of UK Fundraising. He founded the site in 1994 and successfully sold it in 2022. As director of Giving X Ltd he is exploring growing giving on a massive scale.
He is the founder of Fundraising Camp and co-founder of GoodJobs.