Well, 40 people have visited this blog or one person has visited 40 times. That is what my monthly report from WordPress tells me.

I’m a bit of a sucker for statistics. Apparently new figures from the Church of England suggest that congregations have not yet returned to pre-pandemic levels. I think Baptists – though they don’t have the precise numbers – would say the same.

Certainly anecdotal evidence suggests fewer gathering on a Sunday than in 2019. But people are already shouting at the screen that their church has ballooned since lockdown, that they can’t get the chairs out fast enough to cope with the crowd. Well bless you; your anecdote is more positive than mine!

Other statistics are equally sobering. Are there really six million of our neighbours living in ‘very deep poverty’ as the Joseph Rowntree Foundation suggests? We are living through a cost of living crisis where many of our neighbours struggle to pay energy, food, transport and housing costs from incomes that are not keeping pace with inflation.

It means that 61% of people are not putting the heating on like they used to, 14% are skipping meals, 18% are working longer hours, 29% are dipping into savings to cover everyday expenses, and 16% are borrowing just to have the cash to get by.

Two-thirds of people think the government should be doing something about this. And among policies favoured are an expansion of free school meals, more affordable housing (and probably rent controls across the sector); many favour a single publicly owned energy provider and certainly back more investment in renewable energy sources if they cut bills.

But despite the desire for action, there is a growing disenchantment with government – both local and national – to provide any of this.

These numbers and conclusions come from a report on the cost of living crisis as it affects Londoners, especially in three boroughs, including the one in which I live (Southwark). The numbers are sobering, the research compelling, the findings confirm what I have found to be true in my conversations with neighbours and friends.

Ah, a rigorously researched report that confirms my anecdotal findings! But it is not just this one from the Policy Institute/King’s College London. Recent reports by the aforementioned Joseph Rowntree Foundation and the Trussell Trust say much the same. And the UN Special Raporteur on poverty and social inequality confirms this general picture of malaise.

But while the statistics seem pretty unarguable and grim, the issue is what do we do about them. Wringing our hands and shouting at the TV whenever a government minister comes to say to how much they are spending on this or that doesn’t really cut it. And while volunteering at our local foodbank or night shelter is a good thing to do, it doesn’t stem the flow of needy people seeking our help.

To paraphrase Desmond Tutu, it’s not enough to help people out of the river downstream; we need to go upstream and stop them being thrown in the first place. How do we do that? Tell me what you think…