Social Action

Unitarians in the UK engage with many social issues in many different ways, from the very local to national initiatives. Here are some resources for issues that are currently the forefront.

General Election 2024
The election called for on the 4th July, 2024 will have implications across many hot-button topics that concern Unitarians. There are many ways that congregations can get involved, from letter-writing campaigns to local candidates to holding a hustings at their premises.

Citizens UK is an alliance of community organisers that many Unitarian congregations and some districts are directly involved with. They advise:

The focus now is to encourage as many congregations as possible to get involved in Voter Registration Week (9th-18th June – yes, we are extending the definition of a week a bit!). The simplest way to do this is to designate either 9th or 16th June as ‘Election  Sunday’.

Citizens UK have put together (and piloted in Milton Keynes) some church-focused materials to resource your participation. You can download resources for a simple activity to hold at your church service on either of those days here. after you have ensured that all those who are eligible to vote have either registered or pledged to, you can accredit as a Voter Registration Champion through a newly simplified process here

If you have the time and the passion to go further, and your church has community or other projects that bring people into the building, why not think about promoting voter registration through those activities too? Perhaps you host a food bank or a foodshare; a community café, a drop-in, or a parent and toddler group? If you have internet access in your building, you can support people to register between now and the deadline. Here are some important dates to bear in mind (with links to relevant pages for taking action):

Talking of Polling Day, you might want to think about boosting voter turnout on July 4th. How about ‘tea and toast’ at your church or church hall in the morning and evening of polling day? Or an all-day drop-in with tea, coffee and cake? Create a sense of camaraderie and excitement about voting!

Further to the advice from Citizens, here are some excellent resources that can provide further guidance: