A Real Living Wage for Cornwall

We are advocates of collaboration in Cornwall. Our Food Access Alliance is a collaborative of passionate organisations working together to reduce food poverty.

Some of the organisations in this group have worked to support Challenge Poverty Week for the past few years.

This year, we invited you to join us in a campaign for a Real Living Wage in Cornwall.

Challenge Poverty Week is an annual event in October. Its purpose is to raise awareness of local issues connected with poverty in all forms – fuel poverty, food poverty, housing poverty, community poverty, financial poverty etc.

Awareness of issues is raised by

1. inviting key policy makers and decision takers in the public and private sector to attend an organisation seeking to address or relieve poverty during the week itself. Our team is happy to support you with this element.
2. hosting a specific event with a theme which delves into the detail of one specific aspect.

We kicked off Challenge Poverty Week with an event on Friday 13 October at St Michael’s Church, Newquay.

Collaboratively organised by Cornwall Independent Poverty Forum, Truro and Newquay Food Banks, End Hunger Cornwall, Cornwall Council and Cornwall Voluntary Sector Forum.

Each speaker shared their commitment to the cause and steps to how we take collective action for a Real Living Wage for Cornwall.

We had a busy agenda planned.

Our speakers:

• Patrick Langmaid, CEO, Mother Ivey’s Bay
• Emma Rowse, CEO, Cornwall VSF
• Sophie Hosking, Strategic Director for Neighbourhoods, Cornwall Council
• Andrew Yates, Chair, Cornwall Independent Poverty Forum
• Simon Fann, Manager of Truro Foodbank

During Challenge Poverty Week, we are also encouraging all elected Members to get out and visit food banks and organisations working to support communities.

Please find below the banner you can print out during Challenge Poverty Month (October) and show your support to the campaign. #RealLivingWageCornwall #ChallengePovertyWeek #EndHungerCornwall

We did all we could to ensure this was an accessible event. Making things comfortable and inclusive is at the heart of what we do.

• At our events, we are happy to offer reasonable adjustments – please let us know how we can support you. Our team is mental health first aid trained, many are trauma-informed, and several are neuro affirming and neurodivergent-aware
• Where possible, we ask for the food prep and serving to happen in a different building, to reduce the sensory overload of this happening while the event takes place.
• We record the sound of the floor. Some of our team wear, and recommend ‘Loops’ earplugs to help support you if background noise is distracting.