Change doesn’t happen overnight. It is built over time, through shared understanding, stronger connections, and the collective power to challenge systems that aren’t working.

Today, we are publishing a new independent evidence review of our work: Cultivating the conditions for change: Just Fair’s contribution to building a fairer UK, from the Institute for Voluntary Action Research (IVAR). The findings tell a clear story.

In a difficult and often hostile context for human rights, our work is strengthening capacity to use economic, social and cultural rights in practice, bringing people and organisations together into a more connected ESCR movement, centring lived experience, and raising the visibility, credibility and relevance of these rights within domestic and international decision making and accountability spaces.

Together, these strands are laying the foundations for long term, systemic change.

For most people, a good life means having the basics in place: a safe home, enough to eat, access to healthcare, education, and the security to plan for the future. These are not abstract ideals. They are the foundations people should be able to rely on. Yet across the UK, too many people are still denied them, not by chance, but because of how our systems are designed.

This is where economic, social and cultural rights (ESCR) matter. And this is where we are making a difference.

Turning rights into practical tools

One of the strongest findings from the review is our role in building capacity. Across the UK, individuals and organisations are not just learning about rights, they are using them.

Through workshops, research and accessible resources, we are helping partners translate human rights from legal frameworks into practical tools. Tools that can be used to challenge injustice, shape policy, and hold decision-makers to account.

This is about more than awareness. It is about shifting power, giving people the confidence and language to act.

Building a stronger, connected movement

Change does not happen in isolation. It happens when people come together.

The review highlights our role as a connector and convenor, particularly through the UK ESCR Network, which now brings together over 200 organisations and individuals. Across this network, people are sharing knowledge, building partnerships and acting in solidarity.

The evidence also shows that our impact is not just about what we do, but how we work. Stakeholders consistently describe our work as collaborative, approachable and genuinely open to partnership. In a challenging and often divisive context, this matters. Building trust, shared purpose and strong relationships is not an add-on, it is part of how change happens, creating the conditions for collective action and long-term progress.

By strengthening individuals and organisations, we are also strengthening the collective ability to drive change.

Shifting how we understand rights

Another key finding is how we are helping reshape the conversation around human rights.

Too often, rights are seen as distant or abstract. But the evidence shows a shift. More and more people understand ESCR as part of everyday life, the building blocks of dignity, security and participation. This shift is critical. When people see rights as relevant to their daily lives, they become tools for change, not just principles on paper.

Creating pathways to accountability

The review also highlights our growing influence in decision-making spaces, from the UK Parliament to the United Nations.

Our work coordinating civil society input into the UN’s review of the UK helped bring lived experience to the centre of international accountability processes. We are also seeing growing traction in domestic policy debates, with rights-based approaches gaining visibility in Scotland, Wales and beyond.

This is how change happens in practice: by connecting lived experience, evidence and accountability to the spaces where decisions are made.

Looking ahead

The context we are working in remains challenging. Inequality is rising. Living standards are under pressure. Too many people are still unable to rely on the basics.

But this report shows something important: change is possible.

By building capacity, strengthening connections, and shaping understanding, we are helping to create the conditions for a different future. A future in which everyone can rely on the foundations they need to live well.

This is long-term work. But it is necessary work. And it is work we are doing together.

Background image by Alina Marinescu for Fine Acts