1. About Us

We are a leading anti-poverty charity working to end UK poverty through providing expert frontline advice and representation services and campaigning for change.

We are deeply connected to the people we serve. We work in partnership with experts by experience to make sure everything we do is rooted in lived experience and to help challenge the unequal power relations that drive poverty and injustice.

By tackling the twin pillars that create and sustain poverty – inadequate incomes and high costs – we will end UK poverty, for good.

We will not stop until people in or at risk of poverty have their rights realised – until people have access to a social security system that provides financial security and are free from the burden and consequences of unaffordable housing.

Our story began in resistance. Founded in 1997 from the fight against the Poll Tax, we’ve grown into a national voice for justice – delivering specialist advice & representation and evidence-based campaigns.

2. Our Approach

We bring together specialist advice, evidence-based policy, and lived experience to drive lasting change. This unique combination is what sets Z2K apart.

• We don’t just help people navigate the system – we fight to change it.
  Our expert advisers support people to access their rights, while our campaigning targets the structural causes of poverty.
• We’re rooted in lived experience.
  Experts by experience shape our work, ensuring it is grounded, credible and people-led.
• We work at the intersection of rights, power and poverty.
  We challenge the systems that keep people in poverty through a rights-based, intersectional approach that centres equity and justice.

Our approach is what sets us apart and enables us to create impactful, sustainable change.

3. Our Challenge

The UK is one of the wealthiest countries in the world, yet, more than 1 in 5 (22%) of us, now live in poverty in the UK. That’s 14.4 million people. That includes millions of children, disabled people, and pensioners.

We believe poverty is a political choice. It stems from inadequate incomes, high living costs, discrimination, and broken systems – especially in welfare and housing. But that means it can also be undone with the right choices and sustained action.

We see poverty through an intersectional lens. It affects different people in different ways – and disproportionately impacts disabled people, carers and minoritised communities.

We also know that money matters. People are being pushed into hardship by a social security system that’s inadequate, punitive, and complex – and by soaring costs.

4. Our Vision, Mission & Values

Our Vision
A UK where everyone lives a life free from poverty.

Our Mission
To end poverty for the 1 in 5 people who experience it by providing specialist advice & representation services and campaigning for systemic change, working alongside experts by experience in everything we do.

Our Values

• Power-sharing – We trust and support others and are stronger together.
• Fearless – We are unafraid to speak out and do not give up.
• Curious – We listen, we learn, we adapt.
• Inclusive – We challenge discrimination and celebrate difference.
• Caring – We see people as whole and always put them first.

5. Our Strategic Aims (2025–2030)

1) Adequate Incomes

Everyone has a right to financial security. But today’s social security system leaves millions without enough to live on.

Outcome a): People have financial security

Objective: Ensure people can access their legal entitlements to social security and levels are increased.

Outcome b): People’s financial security is sustained

Objective: Ensure people’s income from social security is stable and secure, without the threat of sudden drops.

We will:

• Help more people secure the benefits they’re entitled to.
• Tackle unfair benefit decisions, sanctions, and delays.
• Campaign for a better, fairer social security system that ensures no one is left behind.
• Prioritise work with disabled people, who are hit hardest.

By 2030, we aim to:

• Triple the number of people helped to secure disability benefits.
• Double the total amount recovered from the DWP for our clients.
• Influence major reforms in social security policy.

2) Freedom from High Costs

High housing costs and insecure tenancies are driving poverty. The right to a safe, affordable home is being denied.

Outcome a): People no longer face unaffordable costs

Objective: Ensure more people can access housing that is affordable to them.

Outcome b): People live without the insecurity and hardship caused by high costs

Objective: Ensure people’s housing rights are enforced and strengthened.

We will:

• Expand our housing advice work – especially in the private rented sector.
• Support more people to challenge evictions and poor housing conditions.
• Campaign to reform housing policy and housing benefits.

By 2030, we aim to:

• Quadruple the number of tenants we help with evictions and rent rises.
• Double the people we help to access social housing.
• Win legislative changes to protect renters and improve affordability.

3) A Charity Fit for the Future

To keep making an impact, we must strengthen Z2K from within.

Outcome a): Improved financial sustainability

Objective: Secure a stable and sustainable funding future.

Outcome b): We are seen as a great place to work by all our people and prospective employees

Objective: To create an inclusive, transparent, motivating workplace where people have opportunities to develop.

Outcome c): Develop as an organisation in which participation is embedded in all of our work

Objective: People with lived experience of poverty meaningfully participate in the development and delivery of our work.

Outcome d): The changes we make to people’s lives are clear

Objective: Improve how we demonstrate our impact and capture learning.

Outcome e): We are recognised as a leading UK anti-poverty charity

Objective: Increase reach and brand awareness.

We will:

• Grow and diversify our income.
• Be a great place to work – equitable, inclusive, and supportive.
• Share power and deepen our partnerships with people with lived experience.
• Prove our impact and learn from our work.
• Raise our profile and become a louder voice for change.

By 2030, we aim to:

• Secure more sustainable, diverse funding.
• Strengthen our workplace culture, ensuring Z2K is a great place to work and grow.
• Involve more experts by experience in shaping and delivery our work.

• Embed a robust approach to monitoring, evaluation and learning across the organisation.

• Build a national profile as a leading UK anti-poverty charity.

6. Co-Produced, Grounded in Experience

This strategy was shaped by Z2K’s staff, trustees, partners, and most importantly, people who’ve experienced or are experiencing poverty firsthand. Together, we’ve built a bold, achievable strategy – one rooted in justice, driven by urgency, and powered by lived experience.

We won’t stop until poverty ends.