Proud to be Living Wage employers
Church Hill and Low Hall Nursery Schools are proud to have become 2 of the small but growing number of accredited Living Wage employers in Waltham Forest.
Nearly 4 in 10 workers in Waltham Forest are paid below the London Living Wage.
On Friday 28 September 2018, from 9am – 10am, church leaders, schools and local campaigners released a map of local businesses paying a real Living Wage and undertook a walking tour of the Walthamstow Village to visit and celebrate with London Living Wage employers as well as welcome two new businesses paying the higher £10.20 per hour rate, based on the real cost of living in London. Parish of Walthamstow (St Mary's, St Gabriel's and St Luke's) congregants joined other local residents with big poster boards celebrating the Living Wage.
Sue Peacham, member of the Governing Body of Church Hill and Low Hall Nursery Schools, said; “We have always valued and recognised that the quality of our provision is only achieved and maintained through the dedication of our staff day after day. As a positive demonstration of our appreciation, it is therefore completely appropriate to ensure that all members of staff are paid the Living Wage and above, despite the implications on our diminishing School budgets.”
Vanessa Conant, Rector of the Parish of Walthamstow (St Mary's, St Gabriel's and St Luke's), said: “As followers of Jesus Christ, we are called to pursue justice, mercy and peace - and we want to work to ensure that all people can live life to the full. We're a London Living Wage employer because we want our staff to feel valued and respected. But we also believe that the Living Wage has positive implications for wider society. There are people in our own congregations who don't earn the Living Wage and it can be enormously stressful and exhausting. Paying the London Living Wage means that people have more time to spend with their families, that they are able to save for unexpected costs and that they aren't constantly anxious about how they will afford the next bill. This feels like good news for our church and for our community.”
Waltham Forest Citizens wants more action from local businesses to create the first London Living Wage zone in the borough and tackle the low pay problem blighting London.
Although the Living Wage campaign was launched in Waltham Forest Town Hall in the early 2000s, according to recent figures from Trust for London, Waltham Forest has the highest percentage of jobs paying below the London Living Wage in London, at 37%. Currently, Waltham Forest only has 15 accredited London Living Wage employers, one of the smallest number of accredited providers in the capital. These are:
- London Borough of Waltham Forest
- Chingford Almshouse Charity
- Parish of Walthamstow (St Mary's, St Gabriel's and St Luke's)
- Frontier Youth Trust
- Wild Card Brewery
- Community Transport Waltham Forest
- Signature Brew Ltd
- Green Man & Van Ltd
- Chingford Parish
- Haven House Children's Hospice
- Enviro Waste London Ltd
- Platform London
- Artplinths | London Art Workshop Ltd
- R L Glasspool Charity Trust
- Population Matters
In addition, Unite has recently won a campaign to get the local leisure centres in WF to get them to pay their 18-20 year olds the Living Wage.
