Today, we launched ‘Making London Work for All’ to further tackle low pay and insecure work across the capital.
The first phase of the initiative, ‘Making London a Living Wage City’, ran from September 2021 to August 2025 and secured over 70,000 pay rises nationally through London-headquartered employers. 🙌
Despite this, over 13% of jobs in London are still paid below the London Living Wage (currently £14.80 an hour).
The Making London Work for All initiative will address fair pay, and the links between health inequalities, housing, immigration and work.
Bringing together workers with experience of low pay and leaders from civil society and business in the project’s key industries, the Steering Group will guide and champion the work over the coming years to ensure the project’s success, including co-chairs Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, Deputy Mayor for Business and Growth Howard Dawber, Bishop of Croydon Rosemarie Mallett, and Anna Purchas, KPMG London Senior Partner and Regional Chair.
💬 Gina Rodriguez, Citizens UK leader and Steering Group member, said: “I know what low pay feels like, the stress of another bill to pay and choosing between heating and eating. Through this movement, I’ve seen how powerful change can be when communities, employers and local government come together. I’m proud to be part of a movement making sure London works for everyone who calls it home.”
Find out more by clicking the link in our bio.
@trustforlondon@citybridgefoundation@livingwagefoundation@ldn_gov
This is community power in action. 🤝
Ahead of local elections taking place today and up and down the country, hundreds of Citizens UK community leaders secured commitments from candidates across parties on campaign issues, from work, housing and child poverty to the real Living Wage.
From Newcastle to Birmingham, Reading to Sunderland, Ealing to Hackney, community leaders across schools, mosques, churches, synagogues, unions and charities shared powerful testimonies and built relationships with candidates so that, if elected, they can work with them to make change on the issues that matter most to them.
👉Find out more by clicking the link in our bio.
On Monday, students from St John the Baptist Primary School and East London Citizens community leaders met with the V&A leadership team. 💪🏽
They were encouraged to hear that @vamuseum is on the journey of exploring a Living Wage Accreditation.
Paying workers the real Living Wage is about so much more than just wages - it's about dignity. It means families can afford fresh food, parents can spend more quality time with their kids, and workers can pay their bills without worrying about whether they'll have enough.
Hear what the real Living Wage means to the St John the Baptist Primary choir🎵
#LivingWage
@prospectunion@pcsvandabranch
As the V&A East opens on 18 April, we're calling for them to lead the way, and pay the real Living Wage.
Being paid the real Living Wage is about more than wages – it's families affording fresh food, workers being able to pay their bills, and people walking into their jobs with dignity.
In a survey of over 15,000 Organise members:
- 94% would think twice about visiting the V&A until everyone working there is paid a real Living Wage
- 99% believe publicly funded organisations should pay the real Living Wage to all staff
So as the V&A East opens its doors, they have a chance to do the right thing: accredit and pay all of their workers, including contractors, the real Living Wage. Because every worker deserves to be paid enough so that they are able to live a decent life.
Read more about this in The Guardian by clicking the link in our bio.
Hear what East London Citizens have to say:
A win for our Children into Citizens campaign.
The Home Office has announced that the application fee to register a child as a British citizen will drop from £1,214 to £1,000 - a reduction of £214, and a step forward for thousands of families.
Children into Citizens was launched after our listening campaign in 2017, which found that hundreds of children in our member institutions were being priced out of their entitlement to British citizenship by the £1,214 fee. Without citizenship, many children face barriers to university, voting, public life and the dignity of being recognised as a citizen in the country that is home.
Since then, Citizens UK leaders have taken action nationwide:
- 100 education leaders wrote to the Home Secretary in 2018
- We published a report on the scale of undocumented young people in 2020
- In 2022, we won fee waivers for children in care and for families unable to afford the fee.
The fee remains far too high. Our Pathway to Citizenship report (2024) makes clear that we cannot tackle child poverty without fixing the UK’s pathway to citizenship. We will continue to campaign for child citizenship fees to be reduced to the cost price (£575).
Yesterday, Citizens UK brought together civil society leaders, funders, policymakers, experts, and the Minister of State for Border Security and Asylum, Alex Norris MP, for a landmark summit on the future of Named Community Sponsorship.
Communities across the UK have a proud history of providing sanctuary to people feeling conflict and persecution in other countries. In November 2025, the Home Secretary announced the creation of new, safe and legal routes for refugees to resettle in the UK. This includes named community sponsorship, where welcoming groups help refugees to rebuild their lives.
At our summit, delivered in partnership with @csaorguk and @pathwaysinternational , leaders explored how we can turn this opportunity to a fully operational Named Sponsorship route by the end of 2026. We closed the day with collective pledges to work together with the Government to make this vision a reality, ensuring communities can support people to rebuild their lives in safety.
👉 Join our Named Sponsorship Network. Be part of a growing group shaping the future of welcome in the UK. Sign up for updates and opportunities to get involved by clicking the link in our bio.
We all want to feel at home and connected to our community. Hundreds and thousands of people have put down roots in the UK. Their heart and home are here.
When people came to the UK, the rules were clear. However, In November 2025, the Government set out major changes to Earned Settlement, which would retrospectively change those rules. These plans will lock households into years of insecurity, risking hardship for over 1 million people for whom the UK is home, including 300,000 children.
Citizens UK community leaders up and down the country have been campaigning on these proposals, asking the Government to:
- Rule out retrospective changes affecting people already here
- Give Parliament extra time to scrutinise the impact
- Ensure changes do not undermine commitments on child poverty, social cohesion, stabilising the social care and NHS workforce
- Work with the sector and communities affected by the changes to build a pathway to settlement that works for all.
On Wednesday, 11 March, over 500 people from migrants’ rights charities, including @praxis_uk and Migration Exchange, unions, faith groups, and other organisations came together for a mass lobby outside Parliament, engaging more than 100 MPs from across the political spectrum.
One week later, on Wednesday 18 March, over 60 community leaders reconvened in Parliament, to call on the government not to 'move the goalposts' for people who have built their lives in the UK.
Leaders presented national football shirts to their MPs and called on them to support the growing movement calling for fair settlement.
There is real momentum, but delays in implementing these plans are still in place. Keep going. Find out more and sign the petition, led by Organise in partnership with Citizens UK, calling for fairness, by clicking the link in our bio.
Community organising is about bringing people together so that they can build the power to win change. This means building community-led solutions to big and small problems, that work for everyone.
So, how do we do this? We follow the five steps of social change: Organise, listen, plan, act and negotiate. These steps help communities come together, understand what really matters to people, and take collective action that leads to meaningful, lasting change.
Read more about the community organising method here: https://bit.ly/4tiD80E
Citizens UK is the UK’s biggest, most diverse, and most effective people-powered alliance. We’re here to overcome injustice, bringing together everyday people and local organisations to build a better, fairer society.
We’re pleased to publish our 2025 Annual Report, which is packed with stories of change from community leaders across the country, demonstrating the power of what’s possible when organised communities act together.
From the launch of a powerful new chapter in Liverpool, reaching over 15,900 accredited #LivingWage employers, delivering 40,000 additional pay rises, and improving temporary accommodation standards both locally and nationally, people are forging a new story, rooted in hope, courage, and trust.
🔗 Read our annual report by clicking the link in our bio.
🗨️"Hope is built by small sparks, and community organising lets them grow".
We're over Blue Monday, and it's time to get energised. Read a powerful reflection by Westminster Citizens leader Mahmudul on how he's kept hope alive for himself through the power of community organising.
Link in bio 💪
We want to send a massive thank you to The Guardian readers for their generosity. An incredible £1,035,000 has been raised through the 2025 appeal. 🎉
The theme this year was hope, and it resonated with people all over the country. At a time when many communities may feel divided, the powerful stories shared highlighted the local people who are building trust across difference and making change.
Father Chris Hughes from Tyne & Wear Citizens shared “It showed you can give people a sense of hope. The Guardian appeal has been an absolutely positive experience.”
Pete Brierley, Citizens UK Director, London, also reflected: “The appeal reminded us civil society must roll up its sleeves and model the kind of politics we want to see; listening to those we disagree with, seeking common ground, and working towards a shared common good.”
Catch up with the stories in case you've missed them - links in bio.
‘It’s our Democracy’
One year from the General Election, on 4th July 2025, young leaders from across Citizens UK chapters took part in youth assemblies, #BuildingHope for what's next for their communities on campaigns such as housing, youth safety, mental health and more.
Just two weeks later, the government announced that 16 and 17-year-olds will be able to vote at the next General Election, one of the campaigns young leaders have been working on as part of the Citizens Manifesto.
During these assemblies:
💫@citizenswales celebrated a huge win on the steps of the Welsh Senedd: £1 bus fares for all children and young people in Wales!
💫East London Citizens secured commitments to work with Stephen Timms MP on jobs and skills opportunities for young people.
💫Leicester & Leicestershire Citizens secured commitments to work with Liz Kendall MP to ensure landlords take responsibility for disrepair and maintenance, and to encourage the building of social housing.
💫Greater Manchester Citizens secured commitments from across the NHS, Transport for Greater Manchester, Greater Manchester Police, and from Kate Green, the Deputy Mayor, on how they could work together on mental health, discrimination and public transport.
Find out more 👇
https://bit.ly/44yizTa
