It is a crucial time for global efforts to end poverty. With the 2015 deadline for the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) now fast approaching and mixed progress on the goals, the world is turning its attention to what should replace the MDGs post-2015.

This month we are introducing a nationwide fundraising and advocacy campaign called Live Below the Line. The campaign is designed to raise awareness of the fact that 1.4 billion people in the world live below the extreme poverty line, on less than £1 a day. We are using the opportunity to raise awareness about TB, which is both a cause and an effect of extreme poverty, and kills millions of people every year.

There are 1.4 billion people in the world who live on less than $1.25 per day. This is barely enough to make two simple meals with just 10 cents left over to pay for everything else – healthcare, education, clothes, transport. In a world with enough food to feed everyone one and a half times over, and wealth enough to spend billions bailing out the financial sector, this situation is a travesty. Yet many people in the UK either don’t know the extent of the problem, or if they do, don’t believe that anything can be done to change it.