Foodbanks call for united action to tackle poverty in Cornwall
They are urging businesses, politicians and community groups to work together
Last updated 4th Oct 2022
Politicians, business leaders and community groups are to be urged to work together in a new a bid to ease soaring poverty across Cornwall.
Discussions were made as part of a 'Voices Against Poverty' meeting in Truro ahead of Challenge Poverty Week, calling for 'united action' to ease the crisis.
It took place 25 years on from the first-held meeting against poverty in the Duchy.
The organiser, Truro Foodbank manager Simon Fann, said: "We need political, business and social communities to collaborate to address the causes of poverty in Cornwall.
"Why are we here 25 years later?
"We're in uncharted times".
"We need positive action, united action. We must look at new initiatives and rule nothing out. We have to move from entrenched positions because current practices are not working".
The meeting took place after Simon Fann, who acted as a spokesperson for the Trussell Trust, talked at Cornwall's cost of living summit last month.
The Truro event heard from speakers from voluntary groups, foodbanks, business leaders, clergy and local politicians, continuing to push for the need of community engagement and partnership to tackle the problem.
One of those was Dawn Rudgewick-Brown, a single mum who has turned to Truro foodbank in the past to help her provide for herself and children when they were living in emergency accommodation.
"I felt like I let my children down".
Dawn spoke in a video sharing her experience: "I was in emergency accommodation for six weeks. We had a mini fridge and a microwave. It got to the point when I looked in the cupboards and there was hardly anything there.
"I'm capable of working, I can buy my own food. I thought foodbanks were for people who can't work".
According to a new report by the think tank Autonomy, Cornwall is now the second poorest region in northern Europe with high rates of child, fuel, food and housing poverty.
Patrick Langmaid, owner of Mother Ivey Bay holiday park and volunteer at Wadebridge foodbank, said paying real living wage is one of the solutions as the cost of living remains high.
When speaking about the foodbank, he told us: "Demand has already started increasing and here in Cornwall people still have their seasonal jobs or have only just lost them.
"It is a very very desperate situation".
"I don't think politicians realise how desperate it is at the moment and how bad things are going to become".
The meeting discussed the need for a more focused solution than just relying on charities like Foodbanks to assist people struggling with all the issues poverty brings.
Tuesday's event was held ahead of a second poverty conference in Truro, 'You Still Can't Eat The View', later this month.