What’s it really like to live through the Cost-of-Living Crisis? Time to get your views heard.
Is the cost-of-living crisis affecting your household budget? Do you have first-hand experience of struggling to make ends meet?
We are looking for ordinary people from across the Lewes District who are willing to share their experiences and work with others to change things for the better.
What?: 5 informal workshops, getting to know each other and sharing our stories, followed by the opportunity to meet and discuss with local policymakers.
Why?: to make sure real people’s stories are heard by those that make the decisions.
When?: one workshop every 3 weeks starting at the end of February 2023 and running through til June. A final meeting in June where we invite local policymakers and decision makers along to listen to ‘the lived experiences’ of real people.
Where?: location to be confirmed but it will be easily accessible by public transport and by car. Each participant will be compensated £20 for each workshop to cover any travel and other costs.
Who?: There are no criteria for taking part other than being over 18 and living within the Lewes District (Lewes, Newhaven, Peacehaven, Seaford and surrounding villages) and have had lived-experiences of struggling to afford sufficient food and making ends meet.
How do I get involved?
If you’d like to get involved as a participant or would like to know more, please contact info@lewesdistrictfoodpartnership.org
We’re also looking for groups and organisations that could become ‘Community Partners’ in this work, if you work closely within the community and are passionate about policy change please get in touch.
More about the project: Lewes District Food Partnership (hosted and chaired by Sussex Community Development Association) works to develop and promote sustainable food systems and access to affordable food across Lewes District. This project will help to make sure LDFP’s work is rooted in the everyday realities of those with first-hand experience and driven by engagement with communities we represent.
The aim of the ‘Feeling the Pinch: Have your Say!’ project is to develop a panel of ‘experts by lived experience’ drawn from across LDFP’s geographic spread (including coastal strip towns of Peacehaven, Newhaven and Seaford, the county town of Lewes, and surrounding villages). The Panel will meet for 5 participatory workshops, focusing on capturing people’s lived experience of food security and access to affordable, healthy food in the context of the cost-of-living crisis. These participatory activities will include building panel member skills and confidence to share their stories directly to those with policy influence. We will then facilitate panel member involvement in a ‘hearing’ in June 2023 – bringing the panel together with policymakers including local councillors, council officers, business leaders and our Member of Parliament.