A logo which reads: "With + For Those in Need."People are being called on to help highlight the plight of rural poverty in Cornwall – the theme of this year’s Challenge Poverty Week.

Transformation Cornwall and Cornwall Independent Poverty Forum members are teaming up for Challenge Poverty Week 2025, which runs from Sunday October 12 – October 19.

This annual event highlights the realities of poverty in all forms such as fuel poverty, food poverty, housing insecurity, financial hardship, community poverty, and more.

This year, the week is focussing on rural poverty and local leaders are being urged to visit those in their community working to address these issues and social exclusion.

In a letter from Transformation Cornwall and Cornwall Independent Poverty Forum, it reads: “These visits are important because it is a way of affirming and saying thank you to all those who are working in these projects – especially the hundreds of volunteers across Cornwall.”

Photographs of visits could be included in the Challenge Poverty Week 2025 report.A poster advertising Poverty week event

A special conference will also be taking place on October 24th, from 9.15am-2pm, in St Erme Community Centre. There will be keynote speakers, interactive workshops and networking.

Clinton Cameron Sealy Jnr, Operations Director at Transformation Cornwall, said: “Challenge Poverty Week reminds us that the fight against poverty is not a distant ideal – it is urgent, local, and profoundly human. In Cornwall and beyond, every voice raised, every idea shared, and every action taken during this week contributes to a future where justice, opportunity, and dignity are not privileges, but the birthright of all.”

Andrew Yates, Cornwall Independent Poverty Forum Chair, said: “Challenge Poverty Week is an important time in Cornwall. It provides an opportunity to gain a greater understanding of the issues that keep far too many of our fellow citizens in situations where the poverty they face forces them to make such difficult choices over whether to eat or heat their homes.  It is also a chance to appreciate the volunteers and staff in the community groups working so hard to address these issues.”

To attend the conference, register here: https://bookwhen.com/trurodiocese/e/ev-sjbv-20251024091500

Transformation Cornwall tackles poverty in Cornwall through faith-based social action.

Cornwall Independent Poverty Forum work to enable people to regain control of their lives and return to active life within society.