Around 1 billion people - that's about one sixth of the world's population - live in slums. Life in townships, favelas and temporary settlements across the world is hard.

Often situated on the outskirts of cities throughout the majority world, these slums are populated by people and families who've travelled to urban centres to find work. often unsuccessfully.

The everyday normality of life in the UK is alien to the world's temporary settlements. Running water, electricity, employment, schools and other basic services are rarely present. The cramped conditions mean disease and crime are usually rife. Just as bad is the 'temporary' nature of slums.

They are often not officially sanctioned government communities and thus ignored on maps and in council policy. The threat of bulldozers tearing down slum settlements is always present.

However, this is life for a mass of people, real people that God loves. Soul Action is working to raise awareness of the issues and generate funds for projects and people serving some of the world's poorest communities.

This is what Slum Survivor is all about.

Slum Survivor is a simulation experience designed to help connect young people with the lives of some of the world 's poorest. By spending a few days the way a billion spend a lifetime, living in a temporary shelter, eating a limited diet and facing tough challenges and choices you'll seek to both raise funds and awareness of the poverty and people that live in the world's slums. Participants in Slum Survivor will get sponsored to take part in the challenge. The money raised will go to the work of Soul Action partner projects working in poor communities throughout the world.

However, throughout the weekend, as well as raising money, you'll also spend time in prayer, reading God's word, learning about life in temporary settlements and connecting with God's heart for justice. The idea is that through Slum Survivor we'd be changed but also help change the lives of others too!

We'd love it if you rose to the challenge and held a fundraising Slum Survivor weekend in your Church. Our suggested Slum Survivor weekend dates are 23-25th October 09, but you can run an event whenever you like!

The idea is that over a weekend, from a Friday through to a Sunday, a youth group would take part in a Slum Survivor challenge, gain sponsorship, spend time in prayer, worship and reflection and potentially take over a Sunday morning church service to focus on issues of worldwide poverty.

People who are involved in the Sum Survivor event as Slum Dwellers will undergo challenges that mirror and draw out what life in a slum is like. You can get an idea of the challenges by getting a pack or reading some of the info on the extra downloads page.

All the money raised through sponsorship would go to Soul Action and the projects we support that work in poor communities in South Africa, Zimbabwe and around the world. You can see some of those projects here...

We'd love it if Churches and Youth Groups got together and planned their Slum Survivor events on the same weekend... we're suggesting the 23-25th October 2009. You don't have to stick to these dates and you don't have to do a whole weekend of activities, but it would be great to see loads of Churches together raising awareness of the issues at the same time!

You don 't have to have a massive youth group or do everything we suggest to run a succesful Slum Survivor event. We know that finding time to plan and prepare everything to do with a weekend might take a while, so in the original Slum Survivor Pack we've outlined an alternative, Slum Survivor Light.The newer guides have been adapted to suit a day, night of weekend, so you can choose the timescale and level of commitment that you want!

There's also loads of suggestions of rules and challenges, but feel free to adapt your events to do whatever you want. and send in your ideas.

We'd love to know what worked, so, register your event to have your own Slum Survivor event page and let us knwoyour plans. It would be great to be able to post your experiences and ideas on the website for everyone else to see.