Today marks the start of Living Wage Week 2017. Tomorrow the new rates for the Living Wage will be announced. These rates, which are voluntary, are the only ones based on the real cost of living, rather than a percentage of median income. Over 3,600 employers pay the Living Wage, demonstrating that they believe a fair day’s work deserves a fair day’s pay.

In light of this, on Tuesday 31st October we attended a Living Wage reception at the Houses of Parliament. Duncan had been invited as a member of COFCO and as a previous year’s Living Wage Champion. The reception featured talks from politicians across the political spectrum, all of whom emphasised the importance of the Living Wage to make work pay and address the cost of living crisis. A representative from IKEA and Lynn, a cleaner with Aviva, made it clear that the Living Wage is also about businesses showing their employees (or co-workers, as IKEA calls them) that they value them. As a result, employees will give more back to a business and get a better quality of life (Lynn described being able to buy her granddaughter a new pair of jeans, or save up for a holiday).

The Food Hub has people at its heart and is committed to paying all employees a real living wage. We look forward to seeing the events that take place this week, and congratulate the Living Wage Foundation on all of their successes this year and beyond.

We were also fortunate enough to meet our two local MPs, Heidi Allen and Daniel Zeichner, at the reception, both of whom reaffirmed their support for the Food Hub.

After the reception, we visited the offices of David Miller Architects, to discuss designs for the Food Hub. We were able to speak to David Miller himself, and their vision for the Food Hub is very much in line with ours. Exciting things are coming!