Our newest staff member, Bryn Lauder, introduces himself in this blog post and explains his motivations for joining ECCR, and what he’s been busy with over the last couple of weeks.
Hello! I’m Bryn and I joined ECCR at the start of September as the new Communications and Campaigns Manager.
There was one key thing that encouraged me to apply for this role. It was a quote in the Church Action for Tax Justice introductory video, it says;
“There comes a point where we need to stop just pulling people out of the river. We need to go upstream and find out why they’re falling in”
Upon reading this, I wondered where in the river I find myself when responding to issues of injustice and inequality? Having spent numerous years working for the Church, joining overseas missions and preaching around the Methodist circuit, I always seem to find myself in the deep end, way down stream, strapping on life-jackets and helping people out. But in all honesty, I’d never really considered what might be going on upstream. I’d never challenged nor considered why these individuals might be in the river in the first place.
ECCR has challenged that. I continue to regularly find myself in the deep end and admire all those who have found their calling pulling people out of the water. But I am happy now to be a part of an organisation building its foundations upstream, fighting the injustices that force people into the river in the first place. I’m new in many ways to the areas of ethical finance, corporate responsibility and tax justice, but I believe passionately in the purpose of ECCR and in its ability to transform society for good. I look on excitedly to sharing the good news of ECCR’s work and programmes with as wide an audience as I can.
One project I had the pleasure of diving straight into was our series of online events, Restoring Hope 2020. I hope you’ll take some time to check out our promotional video and book to join us at one of our events. Recently, I’ve been working on our new Money Makes Change Pledge, and you can find out more about the Pledge by watching our promo video or by visiting our dedicated webpage.