Jessica Stephens

Internal Communications Consultant (North) @nationaltrust. Passionate about people, places and a poverty free UK.

[Celia Richardson @CeliaRichards0n]

The Octavia Hill Garden has won the People’s Choice award at #RHSChelsea. The seating is made from trees that came down in Storm Arwen. It features a new seedling grown from the Sycamore Gap tree. And it is lovely. Our founder believed in nature, beauty & history for everyone.

[Joseph Rowntree Foundation @jrf_uk]

Our Chief Analyst, @StatsPeter, outlines the minimum the government must commit to in the upcoming #AutumnStatement.

This is by no means a solution in itself; but it will at least mitigate some of the worst effects of the cost-of-living crisis.

[Joseph Rowntree Foundation @jrf_uk]

Are you appalled by the hardship being experienced by many families in Britain today?

Are you motivated to push it to the top of the political agenda as we approach a General Election?

Do you have the social media skills to help achieve that? (1/2)

[Jessica Stephens @JessStep]

Such a wonderful time at today’s @nationaltrust MarComms event and what a start to the day we had. @CeliaRichards0n #vogue

[Department for Culture, Media and Sport @DCMS]

We are launching a new fund to support charities and community organisations that help vulnerable people

The £76 million Community Organisations Cost of Living Fund will support organisations with rising costs and increased demand

Details ▶️ https://t.co/e7mNIxR8D4

@TNLComFund

[Trussell Scotland @TrussellScot]

At £85 a week for a single person & £134 for a couple, Universal Credit is not calculated on what people need.

It doesn't add up. 🧾

Join us & @jrf_uk to call on the UK Govt to guarantee Universal Credit covers #OurEssentials 👉 https://t.co/06BxhmVS5f

[Jessica Stephens @JessStep]

I love this 🌸

[National Trust @nationaltrust]

Pedro Pascal as Spring flowers; a #Blossomwatch thread🌸

Azalea

[Adam Hills @adamhillscomedy]

We live in one of the wealthiest countries in the world, yet people in the UK are going without the essentials.​ I support the @TrussellTrust & @jrf_uk's call for the government to guarantee that the basic rate of Universal Credit covers #OurEssentials 👉 https://t.co/9WV0lGSGlv

[Trussell @TrussellUK]

🧵 Right now Universal Credit doesn’t cover the costs of all the essentials we need to get by.

So today, we’re at Finsbury Park with @jrf_uk with the receipt to prove it.

[Patrick Butler @patrickjbutler]

"This isn’t a cost-of-living crisis; this is a cost-of-staying-alive crisis... in one of the richest societies that has ever lived, a fifth of single disabled people are effectively destitute" superb, as usual, by @drfrancesryan
https://t.co/M3UFVn1Sso

[Jessica Stephens @JessStep]

Amazing first day @nationaltrust. Working from Goddards felt very special.

[Joseph Rowntree Foundation @jrf_uk]

📈 Inflation's now been in the double digits for 6 months
🍞 Food prices have risen by their highest rate in >45 years
🍽️ Millions are already going without the essentials

We must make a change & base #UniversalCredit on what people actually need, to guarantee #OurEssentials

[Jessica Stephens @JessStep]

@TomHourigan @marksandspencer 😱

[Joseph Rowntree Foundation @jrf_uk]

We are embarking on exciting new work in #York, birthplace of Joseph Rowntree and the city where our work as a Foundation began.

[Martin Lewis @MartinSLewis]

CONFIRMED: The Energy Price Guarantee 20% rise has been postponed from April to July - meaning in practice it's cancelled. Exactly what my letter (below) to Chancellor asked for. Thanks to the govt for listening & to the 135 charities backing the campaign

Video explainer to come

[Joseph Rowntree Foundation @jrf_uk]

Tomorrow's #budget is @Jeremy_Hunt's first opportunity to tackle the challenges facing low-income households across the country. Here's what he'll need to do to make a difference 👇 #Budget2023 🧵

[Graeme Cooke @GraemeCooke3]

Big news that govt wants to scrap the Work Capability Assessment. It is despised by many who experience it and has failed to enable work among those with a health condition or disability (in fact it has had precisely the opposite effect). So few will mourn its loss.

[Jessica Stephens @JessStep]

The childcare system in the UK isn’t working for anyone. Some great work here which shows how we could change it for the better.

[Joseph Rowntree Foundation @jrf_uk]

NEW: JRF is launching a new project, Changing Childcare, led by @abbyabhaya

We will publish a series of short essays on designing a better early years childcare system that helps parents work and gives children the best start in life.

🧵 ⬇️

[Jessica Stephens @JessStep]

A new inquiry on the adequacy of benefits will be starting soon. There’s already a mountain of evidence to show that people on #UniversalCredit are struggling to afford the essentials. This needs to change. #OurEssentials

[Iain Porter @IainKPorter]

Thanks @CommonsWorkPen for inviting me to give evidence to help scope new inquiry into benefits provision. Our research shows urgent need to ensure the basic rate of #UniversalCredit is at least enough to afford life's essentials – it's currently woefully short. #OurEssentials

[Jessica Stephens @JessStep]

A sign that our support systems aren’t doing what they should. It’s time to guarantee #OurEssentials

[Lewis Goodall @lewis_goodall]

NEW: Rough sleeping has risen in England for the first time since 2017. Number estimated to be sleeping rough on a single night in autumn 2022 is 3061. That’s:

⬆️ 26% from 2021

⬇️ 35% from 2017.

⬆️ 74% from 2010.