Dear all, 

 

We are writing to you to let you know that we are currently working with The Basic Income Conversation. 

 

They are a campaigning organisation, hosted by Compass. Their aim is to encourage people and organisations to discuss the need for a basic income with their peers and communities, making sure that people have a say in the debate around it. You can find out more about them here: https://www.basicincomeconversation.org/about 

 

For those not familiar with the idea, a basic income is a regular payment that everyone receives for an unlimited period of time. The right to a basic income would guarantee financial security for all. You may also have heard it called ‘universal basic income’, ‘minimum income’ or other similar terms. Whatever the term used, a basic income has five core characteristics: 

Cash: it’s money you can spend on whatever you want. 

Regular: so you know the next payment is coming. 

Individual: each person gets their own basic income, paid to the individual not the household. 

Unconditional: you don’t have to work or make any promises to get your basic income, there are no strings attached. 

Universal: the entire population gets it. 

 

The reason we are working with The Basic Income Conversation is because there are many overlaps between the support we provide through London Solidarity Funds and a basic income. For example, all the London Solidarity Funds offer cash unconditionally, though in our cases limited funds prevent London Solidarity Funds from offering regular payments to all individuals. 

 

Through our collaboration, The Basic Income Conversation are planning on hosting a crowdfunder, with the aim of raising enough money to cover all applications for support from the Goose Green Solidarity Fund, The SE16 Community Fund, the SE15 Community Fund, The Brent Solidarity Fund, and The Newham Solidarity Fund during the month of September. To thank The Basic Income Conversation for their support and help make the case for a basic income, we’re planning to organise some events and social media actions exploring the case for a basic income that month. 

 

Before we go any further with this project, we want to hear from you. If you have questions, concerns or ideas about this collaboration, please email us. 

 

If you’d like to be even more involved in shaping this project, let us know that too and we can set up a meeting to discuss our plans with you. 

 

Also, keep an eye out for emails from us in the next couple of weeks. We’ll be looking for testimonials from the people (that’s you) who make the funds – whether that’s as a contributor, as a recipient or as someone who helps to process the payments. If you’re comfortable talking about what the fund means to you, we can’t wait to hear from you!. 

 

With all our best,
Jess and Katherine on behalf of the BSF admins