A tour of local ‘wins’ shows how the charity Citizens UK is working with residents to build a better, fairer society

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• Communities are our defence against hatred. Now, more than ever, we must invest in hope

Dashing through the snow with Father Chris … It does not get any more seasonal, even if it feels like there might be a final syllable missing. To be honest we are not really dashing, it’s more a leisurely walk-and-talk, around North Shields. And the snow, the remnants of an early Tyneside flurry, is patchy and dirty rather than deep and crisp and even.

Father Chris is real though – Father Chris Hughes, Catholic priest; the diocese is a strategic partner for the local chapter of Citizens UK, one of five charities supported by this year’s Guardian charity appeal, under the theme of “hope”. The appeal supports grassroots voluntary groups that nurture community pride and positive change, providing an antidote to division and hate.

Milestone reached as journalists including Polly Toynbee and John Crace prepare for fundraising event on Saturday

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The first week of the Guardian’s Hope appeal has raised more than £200,000 for grassroots charities doing inspiring work to bring divided communities together, promoting tolerance and positive change, and opposing racism and hate.

The milestone was reached before the annual fundraising telethon on Saturday. Journalists preparing to take donations over the phone include Polly Toynbee, John Crace, Jonathan Liew, Patrick Wintour and Simon Hattenstone.

Far-right rhetoric fuelled rioting here in 2024, but Back on the Map is helping to unite the community, through good accommodation, new shops, and an aim to genuinely uplift and improve people’s lives
• Donate to the Guardian Charity Appeal 2025 here
• Communities are our defence against hatred. Now, more than ever, we must invest in hope

When 47-year-old shop assistant Claire Carter was younger, her mother told her to “never live on the long streets” – terrace-lined roads about half a mile long that lead from the centre of Hendon, Sunderland, to the sea. These six streets have a reputation for being “full of wrong ’uns, full of stolen cars, places getting smashed up”, she says. Close by is Fletcher’s News & Booze, the shop where Tommy Robinson hosted a book signing in 2017 that ended in physical fights and 21 arrests.

Sunderland more widely has been a key site for far-right politics: in 2024 violent anti-Muslim riots broke out after misinformation spread on social media, suggesting that the man behind fatal stabbings at a children’s dance class in Southport was an illegal migrant. About 500 people came to Sunderland’s city centre to a protest that quickly descended into what a judge has since described as “an orgy of mindless destruction, violence and disorder”, with rioters setting a car on fire, shouting Islamophobic chants and throwing stones at the police.

Exclusive: Alison McGovern makes target for end of this parliament, but figures show homelessness has jumped

The homelessness minister has pledged to end the use of bed and breakfasts as emergency housing, even as new figures show that the country’s homelessness problem has worsened since Labour came into government.

Alison McGovern said she would consider it a personal failing if people were still being placed in B&Bs by the end of this parliament as she launched the government’s three-year homelessness strategy.

Austerity hollowed out provision and hardened eligibility rules. A broken safety net now shuts out the poorest and drives rising homelessness

Moral logic is flipped on its head in England’s benefits system, which systematically excludes the poorest people from the only housing that was ever intended for them. Social homes were supposed to be for those who couldn’t afford private rents. However, a new report by Crisis shows that, because the stock of homes has been allowed to collapse, housing associations now ration supply by applying strict affordability tests. The homeless charity found that seven in 10 people with a history of rent arrears and no repayment plan would “sometimes” or “always” be excluded from housing registers. Perversely, England’s welfare system induces the very homelessness that it claims to alleviate.

Financial checks, along with rules requiring “local connections”, sharply narrow who can join the queue for social housing. For those who do, a further round of pre-tenancy checks means that about a third of housing associations refuse accommodation because applicants cannot afford even modest rents, a problem rooted in benefit levels that are simply too low. Homelessness therefore rises by design rather than accident. Its origins lie in the coalition’s austerity programme: instead of building social homes, which would have eased pressure on welfare, the government redefined who could qualify. The then chancellor George Osborne, it was said, resisted building houses that might create Labour voters.

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As James Corden and Ruth Jones announce new series, people share how choirs have brought friendship, belonging and valuable memories

For many, singing is one of life’s great pleasures.

The actor and writer James Corden has said he was so inspired by the joy he saw when his mum sang in her choir that he teamed up once again with writing partner Ruth Jones to write a new comedy drama called, appropriately, The Choir.

Hope appeal supports grassroots charities who work with communities hit by division, distrust and racism

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More than £100,000 has been raised by generous Guardian readers in less than a week for the Hope appeal, supporting grassroots charities that promote tolerance, compassion and social justice in communities hit by division, distrust and racism.

The appeal has partnered with five charities: Citizens UK, The Linking Network, Locality, Hope Unlimited, and Who Is Your Neighbour?

Anne Johns, who volunteers with refugees, says she regularly witnesses highly skilled and qualified people failing the test on idiotic questions

Oh, how I agree with Emma Beddington (Forget Hadrian’s Wall. The UK citizenship test should ask about Corrie, bus queues and Greggs, 7 December). I volunteer with refugees and regularly witness the distress of highly skilled and qualified people failing the test on idiotic questions that most Britons couldn’t answer. When simple facts can be found by a quick internet search, what is the point of wasting brain space by trying to memorise them?

Much more salient to ask questions like: where can you legally ride an electric scooter? The maximum legal speed for an electric bicycle? The documents needed to drive a car legally in the UK? What is the living wage? How do you obtain a library card? How do you know when it’s safe to cross a road at lights? What is a food bank? Which political party is currently in power in England?