Live Below the Line is an entirely grassroots-led campaign. It relies on the tireless efforts of every single person who decides to live on £1 a day for 5 days to raise vital funds for the world’s poorest communities. That's what gives it its heart!
To celebrate every person who took the challenge this year, we’ve compiled stories from some of our favourite 2015 participants. We hope that these stories will inspire you to join the fight to end extreme poverty once and for all.
Beth McDowell and Faith Archer, UK
It’s impossible to take this challenge and be unaffected by how it makes you feel.
Our participant Faith Archer decided to give food away to the local foodbank, because she ‘couldn’t stand the thought of people feeling as grumpy as she was’.
Beth McDowell, from Exmouth, is showing similar commitment and has vowed to live #belowtheline until either she raises £1500, or "or extreme poverty ends, whichever comes first"!
She's doing it because she believes "an accident of birth has granted me opportunities that I neither worked to get nor particularly deserve. I want to use the power I have to insist on something better for the 1.2 billion people living in extreme poverty.’ We applaud you, Beth!
Eric Gould, Canada
Canadians have a reputation for being generous people who care about the world and want to help make it a better place, and this was definitely on display across the country throughout the Live Below the Line campaign. Communities, families and individuals all over the country came together to take the Live Below the Line challenge, better understand extreme poverty and support our amazing partners in the process.
One participant, who has been taking the Live Below the Line challenge for three years, took on the challenge in a special way this year. Eric Gould was going to be travelling during this year’s challenge week, but he wasn’t going to let that hold him back. He took on the challenge while travelling in Nepal.
Eric was still in Nepal when the devastating earthquake hit on April 25th, 2015, thankfully he was not injured, but he was devastated by the destruction and suffering he saw around him. He put together a team of visitors and locals who wanted to help bring vital supplies to people in areas surrounding Kathmandu. He spent his remaining time in Nepal helping out on the ground and getting the word out over social media about the situation on the ground.
Eric’s passion for helping others and giving back is at the heart of what Live Below the Line is all about.
To learn more about Eric’s experience, check out his profile page and blog: https://www.livebelowtheline.com/me/ericleegould
Lily Pope, Minnesota, US
"Putting variation into [my] meals [was] difficult. Special shoutout to Mr. Boegeman (my civics teacher) for making this cause (along with Kate and I) the currents event we studied in class! Thanks for such an amazing opportunity and learning experience. It was such a great challenge. I can't wait to do it again next year!"
"I'm so excited to be helping such amazing groups, I know this money is going to help do great things! My number one goal in life is to inspire greatness and I don't think I can achieve that without doing things that are inspiring."
Thanks again to all of our fantastic LBL participants - you're the best. There are more stories where these came from - head to www.livebelowtheline.com to check them out.