New Living Wage rate

The new rate for the Living Wage has been announced. It is £9 per hour outside London, and the rate in the capital is now £10.55. 

The real Living Wage is calculated annually by researchers at Loughborough University and based on what people really need to live. The rate applies to all employees over 18, whereas the current government minimum) which increases in April 2019) is £7.83 for those over 25, £5.90 for ages 18-20 and £7.38 for ages 21-24.

Lewes for a Living Wage works with the Living Wage Foundation and with the local Living Wage Brighton and Hove campaign. 

Living Wage Week

To celebrate Living Wage Week there is a display in the tourist information centre window from 2nd to 9th November. Lewes for a Living Wage is proud that around 30 employers in the Lewes area have now signed up or become accredited to pay the real Living Wage. This is currently £8.75 per hour and based on research on what people really need to live. A new rate will be announced on 5th November, and the week runs until 10th. Look out for the new rate in our window, see the list of employers and learn more about why the Living Wage is needed in Lewes.

Societies Fair

We were at Societies Fair on 1st September in the Town Hall and we are planning a display in the Tourist Information Centre window for Living Wage Week at the beginning of November. Our new display poster will be on show on the Lewes Pound stall at Lewes Farmers' Market this Saturday and on the first Saturday of every month.

In the last few months two new businesses in this area have become accredited with the Living Wage Foundation. They are Gossypium, who make organic cotton yoga wear, and The Green Man’s Garden who do garden design and maintenance with ecology in mind. Both are based in Newhaven.

Five jewellers in Lewes are now signed up and/or accredited to pay the Living Wage. They are:

Silverado, W E Clarke & Son, Alexis Dove Jewellery, Marston Barrett, and David Smith Jewellery Ltd.

David Smith Jewellery signs up

David Smith Jewellery Ltd has signed up to the Brighton Living Wage scheme. We are delighted to welcome another jewellery business to the Living Wage list in Lewes.

How much is enough? Making work pay

U3A free public lecture Tuesday 1st May 2.30pm
Lewes Town Hall Council Chamber 
  

What do we define as an acceptable standard of living? How can we balance the responsibilities of employers and  taxpayers for helping to provide a liveable income for the lowest paid?  

Professor Donald Hirsch discussed his research on these questions which concern us all in Lewes.

Professor Hirsch is Director of the Centre for Research in Social Policy at Loughborough University, whose research forms the basis for the real Living Wage adopted by the Living Wage Foundation. In previous roles he was a journalist, an international policy consultant and Poverty Advisor to the Joseph Rowntree Foundation.

Contact leweslivingwage@gmail.com or ring 01273 470940

 

Silverado videos

Two short videos about local jeweller Silverado, found on the Living Wage Foundation website: one from a young employee https://vimeo.com/143917619

and the second from the founder https://vimeo.com/143917268