The numbers are hard to sit with. One in five adults in the UK is living in poverty. Thirty-one percent of children are growing up below the poverty line. And 6.8 million people are in very deep poverty — the highest number ever recorded, according to the Joseph Rowntree Foundation.

For churches that want to respond — but aren't sure how — Jubilee+ is pointing to Acts 435 as a practical starting point. Acts 435 is an online giving charity that connects people in financial need with givers who can help. The model is simple: a local church or community worker posts a specific need (a washing machine, a week's food, a deposit for accommodation), and donors give directly to meet it. No bureaucracy. No waiting lists. Just need met by generosity.

The name comes from Acts 4:35 — "distribution was made to each as any had need." It is a model as old as the early church, made accessible through technology.

Sonny, one person helped through Acts 435, speaks of the difference it made: not just the practical help, but the knowledge that someone, somewhere, cared enough to give.

Jubilee+ also offers a "Stand in the Gap" prayer resource — a guided journey through a day in the life of someone facing poverty, designed to help churches pray with informed compassion rather than abstract concern.

In a country where poverty is rising and the church's response is more needed than ever, Acts 435 offers a way to start — today.