This month, the Fair Economy team at Cynnal Cymru look back at the highlights from this year’s Living Wage Week – an annual celebration of the Living Wage movement in the UK.
During this time, around 20,869 additional people in Wales have been uplifted to the Real Living Wage, adding £141m in additional income for low-wage earners, with almost 600 employers including Principality, Coaltown Coffee, Fabulous Welshcakes and Ogi becoming accredited.
Living Wage Week highlights
We kicked off Living Wage Week in Wales with our annual national event held at the beautiful Norwegian Church in Cardiff Bay.
Together, we celebrated the real impact of the Living Wage, Living Hours, and Living Pensions, and looked ahead to new developments across the Living Wage in Wales.
We heard talks from Leaders of local authorities, talking about why they have made their local authorities Living Wage Employers – we were delighted that Vale of Glamorgan and Monmouthshire both took the final step in accreditation to mark this Living Wage Week.
“The Future Generations Commissioner, Derek Walker, has asked all councils to commit to paying their staff a Real Living Wage, in his Future Generations Report, 2025, published ahead of May’s Senedd elections. Each of Wales’ 56 public bodies, he says, should have a plan for accreditation within two years in a critical step towards tackling poverty.”
And it was also great to have a video from the First Minister, Eluned Morgan talking about the Welsh Government’s commitment to the Living Wage.
On Wednesday of Living Wage Week, we attended the Well-being Economy – Festival of Ideas event, held in Swansea arena. Here we had some great conversations around the Living Wage, with already accredited organisations and organisations who wanted to hear more about it.
We ended the week in Wrexham. We were delighted to attend the Living Wage North Wales event, hosted by the Future Generations Commissioner. Bringing together partners from across the public, private and voluntary sectors to discuss how we can promote the Living Wage and tackle in-work poverty across the region.
A big thank you to everyone who joined the conversation and shared insights, experiences and ideas.
The Living Wage has been one of the most successful civic campaigns seen in the UK.
In less than 15 years, over 16,000 employers across the UK have accredited as a Living Wage Employer – with around 12% of the workforce now working for one. Hundreds of thousands of people have received a pay rise directly at the point of accreditation.
In Wales, we now have over 600 Living Wage Employers, covering nearly 12% of the workforce.
This growth has continued despite cost of living challenges in recent years, with the real Living Wage rising by 41% since 2020.
Cynnal Cymru – Sustain Wales – started working with the Living Wage Foundation in 2016, as the accreditation partner for Wales. We work on a ‘franchise’ model, in essence hosting Living Wage Wales in-house. We are a sustainability charity, who work for the benefit of future generations. The UN’s 8th Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) is Decent Work and Economic Growth, with a Living Wage a core component of this, and other, SDGs. Working on the Living Wage is therefore a perfect fit for our charitable objectives.
In the nine years we have been working on the Living Wage, our work with the Living Wage Foundation has seen 21,000 people getting a pay rise directly at the point of their employer’s accreditation. However, we know the actual impact is even bigger than this. Academics at Cardiff Business School have identified a ‘shadow Living Wage’, with thousands of workers having their pay pegged to the Living Wage without accreditation. This is due to the strength of the Living Wage brand, and the work of other organisations such as trade unions calling for the Living Wage as a minimum in collective bargaining agreements.
We have made great progress on the Living Wage in Wales. Our employer network is growing, our network of steering groups to organise on the Living Wage across Wales are growing, and more and more organisations are joining the campaign.
We were delighted earlier this year to see the Future Generations Commissioner ask all public bodies in Wales to make a plan to accredit as a Living Wage Employer by 2027.
However, there is still more to do.
The Welsh Government’s annual Wellbeing of Wales report found this year that only 67% of people in Wales earn more than the Living Wage. This is an increase from 64% the year before, but we will only ensure we are a nation that provides a Living Wage for everyone if we double-down on our public policy efforts to support a Living Wage.
We believe that the following proposals are credible, evidence-based asks for all parties to include in their manifestos for the 2026 Senedd elections, and would represent a strong step towards tackling the cost of living crisis and in-work poverty in Wales.
Cynnal Cymru’s 2026 Senedd Election Living Wage Policies
1. Living Wage First: publicly funded organisations should pay a Living Wage
The Welsh Government should require any public sector grant recipient to demonstrate that it is paying at least the real Living Wage before it can access a grant. This policy exists in Scotland, where their ‘Fair Work First’ policy requires a number of Fair Work conditions to be met before a public sector grant can be given, including evidence of payment of the real Living Wage.
We support a version of this being introduced in Wales, with three non-negotiables: payment of a real Living Wage, provision of access to trade unions, and provision of contracts with guaranteed working hours (with the Living Hours accreditation providing a potential basis for this).
The Welsh Government should not be providing financial support to organisations who are not paying a Living Wage – the 2026 Senedd election should mark the end of this practice. We call on all parties to specifically adopt this policy in their manifestos.
2. Strengthen and protect the Living Wage for Social Care Workers
The policy of a real Living Wage for social care workers has made a big difference in the lives of many social care workers. However, there is clear evidence that cracks have started to emerge in the policy.
The current system sees Welsh Government pass the funding for the real Living Wage down to local authorities, who are then expected to pass it on to care providers, who are then expected to finally pass it on to the social care workers themselves.
We have seen the different entities in this chain claim that the system is not working as it should be. The Welsh Government’s own research shows that only 84% of care workers are being paid a Living Wage. Although this is considerably higher than the estimated 44% that were being paid a Living Wage before the last Senedd election, there is still work to do to ensure that all care workers are being paid a minimum of a real Living Wage. Care work is skilled, demanding work and people in the sector deserve to have a Living Wage as a pay floor.
We are calling on all parties to sign up to guaranteeing that a Welsh Government led by their party will ensure all social care workers receive the real Living Wage, using the new Fair Pay Agreement mechanism to ensure that the real Living Wage is the minimum wage rate for social care in Wales. This should be backed up by adequate funding from the next Welsh Government to realise this policy, with the funding ring-fenced if necessary.
3. All public bodies in Wales should be accredited Living Wage Employers
Paying the real Living Wage to all directly employed staff is a good start, but there is more for employers to do. Some employers may pay their directly employed staff a real Living Wage, but also outsource contracts such as cleaning and security services for their premises to companies who do not pay a real Living Wage. This means that there is essentially a loophole where employers can avoid paying the Living Wage to some of their lowest paid staff.
The Living Wage Employer accreditation requires payment of the Living Wage to all of these staff members, giving confidence that all who should be paid a Living Wage, are being paid a Living Wage.
Mark Drakeford and Eluned Morgan have both written in their capacity as First Minister to all public bodies in Wales asking them to become accredited Living Wage Employers, and the Future Generations Commissioner has recommended that all public bodies become accredited Living Wage Employers by 2027.
However, it is still only a small minority of public bodies who have done this. We are asking all political parties to state in their manifestos that all public bodies (as defined by the Well-being of Future Generations Act) will be mandated to become accredited Living Wage Employers. This can be done by mechanisms such as remit letters, or instructions by the relevant Cabinet Secretary.
The Foundational Economy was one of the vogue economic policy ideas of the fifth Senedd (2016-2021). It had many parents. The works of the Foundational Economy Collective gave it a sound academic basis. A group of politicians – Lee Waters (who later led on the concept in government), Jeremy Miles, Vikki Howells, and the late Hefin David – brought a debate to the Senedd calling for the Welsh Government to develop a strategy to ‘maximise the impact of the Foundational Economy’. Organisations such as the FSB and Wales’ think-tanks also developed their own thoughts on the concept. And organisations across civic life in Wales sought to become a part of a movement that appeared to be the next big idea.
So, what exactly is the Foundational Economy? At Cynnal Cymru we’ve worked with the Welsh Government to help define their response to this question in developing a new ‘Mission Statement’ for their work on the Foundational Economy. The Welsh Government says the following in its Mission Statement:
“The term ‘foundational economy’ refers to the sectors of the economy that provide the goods and services that underpin everyday life. The Welsh Government is focused on the organisations and people in these sectors, as well as the quality and accessibility of the goods and services they provide.
The foundational economy is more than just infrastructure, employment and output. It is also citizens’ sense of control and belonging in their community. These sectors are by their nature immediate to people’s surroundings, and so they are vital social as well as physical infrastructure.”
There are consistent debates about what constitutes the Foundational Economy or a ‘Foundational Economy approach’. Some have argued for a descriptive definition – that is, the Foundational Economy is a description of certain sectors of the economy that underpin everyday life – for example care and health services, housing, food, and transport. The Welsh Government, for its part, has a strategic focus on the following sectors in the Foundational Economy:
care and health services, including social care and childcare
management of social housing
construction of residential and commercial buildings
energy and utilities
food
high street retail and services
tourism
public transport
Others have advocated for this to be developed into a more complex ‘analytical’ approach, introducing a ‘three-pillar concept of foundational liveability’, arguing that the liveability concept depends on the alignment of the three pillars of residual income (that is, income left over after spend on foundational goods and services), social infrastructure, and essential services. Whilst less easily communicable than the original concept, the advantage of this approach is that it takes us from the ‘what’ of the Foundational Economy concept to the ‘why’ and ‘how’.
Still more have advocated merger or absorption of the Foundational Economy concept with concepts that have a partial overlap, such as Community Wealth Building.
At Cynnal Cymru, we believe that a continued focus on the Foundational Economy is a welcome one, and we’re pleased to be working with the Welsh Government on this agenda. Here’s why.
Analysis by the Welsh Government finds that the Foundational Economy is a significant part of the Welsh economy. Over 60% of all Welsh headquartered businesses are within foundational sectors, and 51% of employees of Welsh VAT registered businesses are, too. It accounts for 47% of all turnover in Wales.
A geographic analysis of the Foundational Economy in Wales demonstrates the strength of the concept. As the Welsh Government’s Mission Statement states, the “The term ‘foundational economy’ refers to the sectors of the economy that provide the goods and services that underpin everyday life.”
Another way of looking at this could be ‘if you stripped out all non-essential economic activity, what would be left?’ Only that which is necessary to sustain life. The regional analysis of Wales demonstrates this in the real world. Some of the more rural areas see the vast majority (over 70%) of their businesses being placed in the Foundational Economy. Where there is additional economy activity – ‘non-essential’ or tradeable manufacturing and services, for example – the proportion is still high, but lower.
I should state that this economic activity is only ‘non-essential’ in the sense that it does not contribute to the immediate sustenance of life. It is, of course, a vital underpinning to wider quality of life, providing economic growth and good quality jobs.
The Foundational Economy, then, is a solid concept for understanding the economy around us. One Lee Waters quote from an Institute of Welsh Affairs piece stands out – “Of course we should continue to defend our tradable competitive economy, but we must pay more attention to the foundations of our economies”.
For Cynnal Cymru, this is an important framing that underpins the emphasis of governments focusing on the Foundational Economy. The ‘tradeable competitive economy’ can provide good quality jobs, has the potential to bring money into Wales, and can lower poverty rates through these mechanisms. Underpinning the idea of the Foundational Economy is that governments have focused on attracting charismatic sectors (with Artificial Intelligence being the latest focus for policy makers across the world) and paid little attention to the Foundational Economy sectors. A focus on the technologies of the future is important, and Wales should be doing what it can to reap the benefits. But work on these sectors doesn’t have to come at the expense of a focus on the Foundational Economy.
As the Welsh Government analysis shows, we can’t afford to ignore the Foundational Economy. It is too dominant in too many parts of Wales, and the ‘mundanity’ of some of these sectors has caused it to be a less interesting focus for many than charismatic sectors that employ far fewer people.
The working lives of people in the Foundational Economy matter just as much. And often they are defined by low wages, insecure hours, and non-unionised jobs. The Bevan Foundation undertook a research project into Fair Work in the Foundational Economy (with a focus on social care, hospitality, and retail) and found that working conditions were poor. These sectors found ‘a wide prevalence of comparatively low pay… where the majority of workers do not earn a real Living Wage’, ‘above average rates of part-time working’, and ‘low rates of in-work training’.
This makes a focus on the Foundational Economy the perfect partner for the Welsh Government’s ambition to raise levels of Fair Work in Wales – and the Foundational Economy and Fair Work (predominantly through the Living Wage) are the dual focuses of Cynnal Cymru’s Fair Economy team.
The Welsh Government has now published clear objectives in its Foundational Economy work:
Identify and support opportunities for more jobs, better jobs, greener jobs and promote fair work, including good pay, representation, security, and opportunity to progress.
Increase ‘household liveability’ by facilitating rising wages through promotion schemes such as Real Living Wage, helping increase the affordability of foundational essentials to support universal access to high quality goods and services.
Build local supply chains to keep people, skills and wealth in Wales.
Contribute towards addressing the climate and nature emergencies.
Encourage collaborative innovation and experimentation to improve basic goods and services, especially where these build resilient social infrastructure, such as through cooperative and community-owned projects.
These objectives form the basis for real action on the Foundational Economy. The people working in these sectors deserve to have good working lives, can make a real contribution to sustainability aims, and deliver services that all of us rely on.
Examples of the changes the Foundational Economy approach has made are abundant – and there is more to do. For example, Hywel Dda’s ‘grow your own’ approach to tackling recruitment problems by allowing alternative routes into healthcare employment, focused on building skills in the local community, can be spread to other health boards.
The Foundational Economy team’s direct project support has also created new opportunities. For example, it helped set up the Welsh Veg in Schools Programme. Prior to the project, over 94% of vegetables used in primary schools in Wales were sourced from outside of Wales, often frozen and non-organic. The project, beginning with just one grower, has now grown into a vibrant, multi-stakeholder project. By 2024, 8 growers had actively supplied 14 tonnes of organic Welsh veg for use in school meals. This was across 219 schools in six local authority areas. So far in 2025, the number of growers has expanded to 15, with 12 local authorities engaged. This means that approximately 1 million portions of local, organic veg will be served to school children in Wales as a direct result of the Foundational Economy project.
In housing, up to sixty-four local contractors have been supported to secure accreditations required to deliver retrofit work for homes across Wales. Based on feedback from the contractors, the funding will lead to over three hundred and fifty new jobs through the contractors securing additional work.
This is enabling local businesses to grow through securing more work, and creating new, skilled jobs. Delivery of the housing retrofit can be accelerated through additional contractor capacity, enabling residents to live in warmer, more energy efficient homes. This will lead to greater residual income, enable people to live healthier lives and reduce the climate impact of our housing stock.
The Welsh Government’s Foundational Economy programme has already supported the Living Wage accreditation process for major anchor employers in Wales such as local authorities, and there are exciting signs that this will expand in the future.
From a Living Wage for workers in Wales, to building skills and creating jobs for local people, to healthy, Welsh-grown food on children’s plates. All this and more has all stemmed from the Welsh Government’s focus on the Foundational Economy.
The working lives of people in the Foundational Economy and the services they provide for all of us are worthy of concerted focus. From academic concept to on-the-ground delivery, the Foundational Economy concept has delivered and is set to deliver more. We should take it into the seventh Senedd with pride.
Harry Thompson is Head of Fair Economy at Cynnal Cymru. Cynnal Cymru’s Fair Economy team has a dual focus – spreading the Living Wage across Wales, and supporting the Foundational Economy.
At Cynnal Cymru, we are getting ourselves ready for Living Wage Week – always one of the busiest times in our Fair Economy team’s calendar.
We’re the Living Wage Foundation’s accreditation partner for Wales – in essence, that means we host Living Wage Wales in-house. Our Fair Economy team supports employers across Wales to become accredited Living Wage Employers. We also work with the Welsh Government on their Foundational Economy agenda – and there is an interlink between these two programmes. One of the Welsh Government’s objectives on the Foundational Economy is to help facilitate rising wages in the ‘foundational’ sectors, including through promoting the real Living Wage.
The Living Wage campaign is one of the most successful campaigns of the past quarter of a century. The campaign for a Living Wage has cross party political support and is a movement of independent businesses, organisations and citizens who believe a hard day’s work deserves a fair day’s pay.
The movement began at a meeting in East London, when the grassroots organisation Citizens UK – the home of community organising – brought together churches, mosques, schools and other local institutions to talk about the issues affecting their communities. One issue came up again and again – low pay.
The Living Wage campaign was launched, and also called on employers to pay their outsourced cleaners, caterers and security guards working a wage that met their everyday needs.
Supporters held rallies and charity music gigs. A big march down the Mile End road called for all staff working in East London hospitals to be paid a Living Wage. These hospitals were among the first employers to join our movement – followed by local schools and big City firms.
In 2011, the UK Living Wage rate was launched. And in 2016, Cynnal Cymru became the accreditation partner in Wales. We have worked with a range of employers and individuals who have been willing to go above and beyond to support the Living Wage in Wales. Cardiff Council, Cardiff Business School, Welsh Government, Citizens UK, and too many other partners to name on our steering groups have donated time and effort to supporting the movement.
So where are we on the Living Wage in Wales, and how much more potential is there in this programme?
For starters – we have nearly 600 accredited Living Wage Employers in Wales now, who collectively employ 160,000 employees. This is rising all the time. We’ve supported leading lights from the private, public, and third sectors to accredit – for example, Admiral, Principality Building Society, and Cardiff, Rhondda Cynon Taf, and Bridgend local authorities.
We often talk about a ‘delivery gap’ in devolution – how do well-meaning frameworks and strategies become on-the-ground delivery? We’re very happy to say that we are playing a role in bridging this gap.
To date, our running total is 21,000 ‘uplifts’ to the real Living Wage directly at the point of accreditation from still-accredited employers – that is, as a direct result of this programme employers have lifted over 21,000 workers off the statutory minimums and on to a wage floor that is based on independent research into the real cost of living. These 21,000 workers receive a pay rise each year, also based on the cost of living.
In times when we talk about a cost of living crisis, this is really important. We know that the costs of essentials such as food and housing have increased significantly over recent years. Living Wage Employers are doing their part to ensure wages keep pace with the cost of living, even in challenging times.
Living Wage Employers don’t just take care of their directly employed workers, either. Our accreditations require in-scope contractors to be paid the real Living Wage. Security and cleaning staff are often outsourced – but our accreditations don’t allow them to be left behind. The movement started with these workers asking for fair pay, and every Living Wage Employer ensures these workers receive the Living Wage, too. This requirement also allows accreditations at major employers like local authorities to have an impact down their supply chains, across the local economy.
The Living Wage movement’s impact is even further than this. Academics at Cardiff Business School have uncovered a phenomenon called the ‘Shadow Living Wage’. This is where major employers peg their minimum pay rates to the real Living Wage, but don’t accredit. They won’t show up in our impact statistics, but it’s not a coincidence the minimum pay rates at supermarkets often very closely mirror the real Living Wage. This is often as a result of trade unions demanding – and winning – the Living Wage as a minimum in negotiations with these employers.
Behind every one of these rises to the Living Wage is a human being and a human story. One typical story that always stays with me is the impact on working parents. One social care worker in Wales told us that he previously had to work multiple jobs – leaving the house before his children had gotten up in the morning, and coming back after they had gone to bed. The introduction of the Living Wage at one of his employers had allowed him to only work one job, and to spend time with his children in the evenings. Another worker in Powys told us that the introduction of the Living Wage had allowed her to save and buy a house, something she would not have otherwise been able to do – transforming her future. There are now more than 21,000 of these stories across Wales.
As proud as we are of this work, there is still so much more to do. The Wellbeing of Wales report published this month found that 33% of workers in Wales are still paid less than a Living Wage.
Welsh Government support is essential to what we do, and has been instrumental in delivering these pay rises for low paid workers. There is still more we can do in the public policy space, though.
The Scottish Government’s ‘Fair Work First’ policy requires everyone in receipt of public sector grants to pay the Living Wage. We should look at emulating this in Wales. After all, there is only so much money to go around – why should we use it supporting low pay, instead of encouraging pay rises for workers? Similarly, we should examine how they have encouraged the Living Wage through procurement contracts in Scotland. There are now around 4,000 Living Wage Employers in Scotland, and they operate in a very similar devolved context to Wales. We should be looking at the trail they have blazed and be seeking to do the same.
Supporting the Living Wage is something that all of us can do. We have steering groups across Wales – including a Cardiff group and a South West Wales group. We’re looking to support people to establish groups in other areas, too. We have major organisations such as local authorities, universities and the Future Generations Commissioner’s Office represented on these groups. However, we also have bakeries, markets, and other small employers on board – the only real qualification is for you to be enthusiastic about the campaign and be willing to give up your time.
So, as we look towards Living Wage Week – the Living Wage movement in Wales has achieved a huge amount, and Wales is a better place for it. But with a third of people in Wales earning less than a Living Wage, there is so much more to do. Get in touch and be a part of it.
Join us at this event to hear from Living Wage Employers, workers, and campaigners on the difference Living Wage, Living Hours, and Living Pensions makes – and to hear about new developments across the Living Wage and Fair Work space in Wales.
We will hear from speakers across the Living Wage movement – including workers, activists, large and small Living Wage Employers, council leaders, Welsh Government, and others. Our full line-up of speakers will be announced shortly, and the event will be chaired by David Nash, Professor of Employment Relations at Cardiff Business School, and Natalie Hodgkinson, Boss and Brew Academy.
We will be hearing about the difference the Living Wage makes, and how you can support pay rises for the lowest paid based on the cost of living.
Venue: Norwegian Church Arts Centre, Cardiff Bay Date: Monday 10th November 2025 Time: 10am – 12pm
Launched in 2023, the Larder Cymru – Welsh Food for Schools project is a pioneering initiative led by Menter Môn to increase the use of Welsh food products in public sector school meals. With a focus on primary schools, the project aims to strengthen local supply chains, supporting and celebrating Welsh producers, thereby boosting the foundational economy while enhancing the nutritional and cultural value of school meals across Wales.
“The aim of Larder Cymru Welsh food for schools program initially was to essentially increase the procurement of Welsh products by the public sector in Wales.” – David Wylie, Menter Môn
Background and vision
The project was initially designed to support five local authorities: Cardiff, Caerphilly, Wrexham, Flintshire, Gwynedd, and Anglesey, to embed more Welsh produce into school menus. Over time, it expanded to include three more: Powys, Denbighshire, and Conwy. The vision was clear: to create a more resilient, sustainable, and locally rooted food system for schools.
Funded by the Welsh Government’s Backing Local Firms Fund, Larder Cymru exemplifies how systematic change in foundational sectors such as food helps to boost Wales’s Foundational Economy. Localising procurement practices promotes economic development for Welsh businesses, enhances environmental sustainability by minimising supply chain emissions, and incorporates cultural identity through the celebration of Welsh food.
“By creating that circular economy approach where you’re actually putting public money back into the Welsh economy, you’re helping scale up local food businesses, which in turn is creating good and fair jobs for people in the local community.” – David Wylie, Menter Môn
Growth and progress
The project’s approach was tailored and collaborative. Each local authority received bespoke support, including:
Reviews of procurement frameworks,
Menu analysis
Hosting supplier engagement
One of the standout strategies was the facilitation of procurement roundtables in North Wales, where local authorities explored joint purchasing opportunities to achieve economies of scale. This led to tangible outcomes, such as Wrexham transitioning from an English supplier to the Welsh-based Harlech for frozen goods.
Face-to-face engagement was a cornerstone of the project’s success. Larder Cymru highlighted the importance of connecting the entire supply chain through in-person meetings with procurement teams, chefs, and suppliers, building mutual understanding and trust.
Challenges and lessons learned
Despite its successes, the project faced several challenges. Time constraints and delays in local authority processes, such as survey rollouts and menu redesigns, often slowed progress. For example, a parent survey in Cardiff faced technical issues and was delayed by nearly a year, impacting the timing of final project reporting.
Another challenge was working with external stakeholders & suppliers, which hindered the ability to review menus in some cases. However, the team adapted by supporting schools through grants for cooking equipment and garden tools, demonstrating the project’s flexibility.
Impact and looking ahead
The project has had a significant impact on not only procurement practices and community engagement but also the amount of Welsh food being supplied. For instance, Caerphilly Council doubled its spending on Welsh produce after engaging with Larder Cymru to identify additional Welsh suppliers. Furthermore, a redesign of the primary school menu to highlight local suppliers and provide imagery has further increased pupil uptake and therefore spend with suppliers. This new primary school menu features Welsh dragon icons and professional food photography to showcase what the meals look like. This model inspired similar initiatives in Wrexham, where Welsh dragon symbols were added next to the food, and a supplier map was included on menus to clearly indicate the origin of the food.
The initiative also sparked broader interest with its work across multiple local authorities, with suppliers like Castle Howell and Harlech gaining visibility at national events such as LACA. The project’s influence extended beyond schools, with independent Welsh businesses reaching out to explore new procurement opportunities.
Looking ahead, the team plans to pilot innovative ideas such as salad bars inspired by Swedish schools and expand support for the fruit and vegetable supply chain. A new staff member with a marketing background will help bring menu development in-house, increasing efficiency and sustainability.
Conclusion
Larder Cymru has proven to be a transformative project, not only increasing the presence of Welsh produce in schools but also fostering collaboration, innovation, and community pride. Its adaptable model, rooted in local engagement and strategic partnerships, offers a blueprint for future food system initiatives in Wales and beyond.
With continued support and long-term funding, the project has the potential to scale further, embedding Welsh food culture into the daily lives of schoolchildren and strengthening the foundational economy across the nation.
Led by Carmarthenshire County Council, the Future Generations Menu project emerged from a desire to address the economic and environmental consequences of relying on imported food in Welsh Schools. With support from the Welsh Government’s Backing Local Firms Fund, the team set out to create a replicable, open-source menu framework that could be adopted by local authorities beyond Carmarthenshire, across Wales. This menu would be aligned with a sustainability framework developed by the team, incorporating Welsh seasonality and produce grown on their own farm.
“Our original aim was to reduce the economic impact of imported foods and to bring that value into the Welsh economy.” – Alex Cook, Food Systems Development Project Manager, Carmarthenshire County Council
The Approach
The project took a collaborative and multi-layered approach. To redesign the menu, Chefs were commissioned to work directly with schools, engaging parents, catering staff, and teachers in a co-design process. Using a sustainability framework, the menus were ensured to align with Welsh seasonality and local farm production. Waste monitoring systems were put in place with hardware to collect baseline data of what was being wasted, enabling future comparisons once the new menu was implemented. The farm itself was also adapted to align its crop plan with the school calendar, a novel approach that ensured produce availability matched educational needs. Communications played a key role, with digital and physical assets created to raise awareness and bring together stakeholders from across the food and farming sectors.
Early outcomes and impact
Although implementation was delayed, early analysis suggests the project will have a significant impact. The project is predicted to see an anticipated 80% reduction in the carbon footprint of school meals, largely due to replacing imported foods with locally sourced alternatives and reducing meat content by 30%. This shift is expected to redirect public spending directly to local Welsh producers.
Beyond the quantitative outcomes, catering teams have become more engaged with the principles of sustainable food and have begun to understand their role in delivering on strategic objectives such as the Well-being of Future Generations Act. This cultural shift has been one of the most encouraging signs of progress.
“The softer impact has been around engaging with catering teams… helping them understand the importance of sustainable food.” – Alex Cook, Food Systems Development Project Manager, Carmarthenshire County Council
Evaluation
The project is now entering its proof-of-concept phase, with the new menu set to launch in three schools from September 2025. Evaluation will focus on the carbon and economic impact, food waste reduction, and meal uptake, using data from systems like ParentPay. The team is also planning to publish the menu and crop plan to support knowledge exchange and inspire other local authorities to procure from their local growers. One of the most promising signs is that the catering teams are continuing with the project beyond the initial funding.
“One of the big impacts is that the catering team are running with it and carrying on with it post-funding,” – Alex Cook, Food Systems Development Project Manager, Carmarthenshire County Council
Challenges and learnings
One of the most significant challenges was the implementation gap between sustainability ideals and practical delivery. Catering teams and teachers often had conflicting perceptions of meal uptake and food waste, and there was a lack of reliable data to support either view. Communication between stakeholders was also a major hurdle, requiring outsourced support to improve engagement with parents and staff.
Operational issues, such as children selectively eating parts of their meals or choosing which days to participate, also impacted nutritional balance and waste. The team is now exploring new catering models, including consistent meal service and weekly sign-ups, to address these issues.
Impact on the Foundational Economy of Wales
The Future Gen Menu project directly supports the foundational economy by strengthening local supply chains, retaining jobs, and increasing the resilience of Welsh food systems. By aligning crop production with school needs and encouraging cooperative models among growers, the project is creating a more sustainable and locally rooted food infrastructure. The team is also working to re-establish an online food platform for local producers, aiming to create a cooperatively owned social enterprise that supports distribution and access.
Looking ahead
Building on all the knowledge gathered and data collected from the project, the next steps begin with the full roll-out for the Future Generations Menu from September 2025. The project then aims to continue with a gradual expansion to other primary schools over the course of three years. After which, the development of a secondary school menu and publication of the Future Gen Menu, alongside the crop plan, will be distributed for wider use. The aim is to share knowledge and tools widely across Wales to different local authorities to encourage continued collaboration between local authority procurement and local Welsh growers.
Conclusion
The Future Gen Menu project is a powerful example of how sustainability, education, and local economic development can be integrated into public sector food provision. With strong early outcomes and a clear roadmap for expansion, it offers a replicable model for other regions in Wales and beyond. The project’s success lies not only in its innovative approach but also in its ability to foster collaboration, shift cultural norms, and deliver tangible benefits to the foundational economy.
In partnership with Size of Wales, the initiative also tackles climate change by working with students to design deforestation-free, locally sourced menus for Monmouthshire schools. Through a combination of online and in-person lessons, the project is helping children develop lifelong skills around food, cooking, and sustainability.
Project goals
The Cookalong Clwb aims to:
Teach children essential cooking and budgeting skills.
Increase knowledge of healthy, locally sourced foods.
Empower children to make informed food choices and reduce food waste.
Raise awareness of climate change and the importance of sustainable sourcing.
“If children leave primary school knowing how to cook, budget, and make healthier food choices, they are set up for life. They’ll know how to feed their families, and they’ll have the confidence to make better decisions about food, whether it’s cooking or shopping.” – Angharad Underwood, the Cookalong Clwb
The project also works with disabled teams, teaching them how to shop and cook independently, promoting autonomy and self-reliance.
Impact and outcomes
The Cookalong Clwb has already made significant strides in fostering positive, long-lasting changes in children’s lives. Through both online and in-person sessions, the program has cultivated:
Kitchen Confidence: Children have learned to chop, cook, and manage the kitchen with sharp knives and hot pans, giving them practical skills that will last a lifetime.
Waste Reduction: Kids are now mindful of food waste, with tips like reviving lettuce stalks or broccoli stems by placing them in water for ten minutes.
Family Engagement: Children share their newfound skills with family members, subtly shifting family dynamics and sparking discussions about healthier cooking and reducing food waste.
Sustainability Advocacy: The collaboration with Size of Wales has inspired children to advocate for sustainable, deforestation-free school meals, with the Monmouthshire County Council committing to becoming the world’s first deforestation-free county.
Additionally, the project has inspired some children to pursue vocational qualifications, opening doors to careers they hadn’t previously considered.
Realisations and insights
While initially focused on food poverty, the project uncovered that socioeconomic status doesn’t necessarily correlate with cooking skills. As one participant reflects:
“The wealthier you are, the more likely you are to buy ready-made meals. The less wealthy, rely on food banks and ultra-processed foods. What we realised is that kids of all backgrounds are lacking kitchen skills.”– Angharad Underwood, the Cookalong Clwb
Another key realisation is the widespread fear around cooking and food preparation, often due to a lack of exposure or confidence. The project is working to break these barriers, especially when it comes to managing the kitchen environment and understanding food’s real value.
Challenges faced
The main challenge has been securing consistent funding to ensure long-term sustainability. Without reliable resources, expanding the project into more schools and reaching a larger audience remains a significant hurdle. As emphasised: “You can’t charge for this. Schools don’t have budgets, and we need the funding to continue delivering these lessons.”
Future plans and vision
Looking ahead, the project plans to:
Expand: Reach more schools across Monmouthshire and Wales, providing cooking lessons to a broader audience.
Teacher Training: Equip teachers with the tools and confidence to deliver cooking lessons within the curriculum.
Community Kitchens: Explore the creation of community kitchens where families can gather, cook together, and share meals.
Sustainability Focus: Continue advocating for deforestation-free, sustainable school menus and sourcing locally and ethically grown produce.
The Flexible Skills Programme (FSP) is a Welsh Government funded initiative that helps businesses across Wales build a stronger, more skilled workforce. Employers can apply for funding to cover up to 50% of the accredited training costs, with a maximum value of £50,000 per application. Whether you’re looking to fill skills gaps, retain staff, or attract new talent, the Flexible Skills Programme can help you invest in your team’s future. This funding is available to employers operating in any industry across Wales. To be eligible, your business must be based in Wales, be financially solvent and commit to releasing staff to complete the training by the end of March 2026.
Priority sectors it covers include net zero, tourism and hospitality, digital and exporting skills.
The Welsh Government is building a stronger, fairer, greener country, with an economy based on fair work, sustainability and the sectors of the future.
We help businesses, the third sector, public sector bodies and research organisations to innovate and create new products and services. This can help increase commercialisation, improve skills and ensure Wales remains competitive and strives towards carbon-free in the future.
SMART Flexible Innovation Support (FIS) is open to any organisation wishing to engage in Research, Development and Innovation (RD&I), including the third sector, local authorities and health boards.
The theme of this month’s Cynnal Cymru newsletter is ‘growth’ in its broadest sense. It’s a word that is often associated with positivity. I’m writing this on the first working day of British Summer Time, although it is still very much spring. Growth is in the air – with the daffodils having sprouted and blossom season in full swing. Growth in this context is very much welcome, even to hay fever sufferers like myself. But there are some debates where the concept of growth is more contentious.
Our role as Cynnal Cymru’s Fair Economy team is to make a contribution towards a fairer economy for Wales. Our two core work strands are partnering with the Living Wage Foundation in Wales – hosting Living Wage Wales in-house – and working with the Welsh Government to support their ambitions for Wales’ foundational economy. For those of you who don’t know, that’s the ‘mundane’ areas of the economy that are nonetheless incredibly important in underpinning everyday life – think care and health services, food, utilities, and similar. They haven’t always got the attention from economic policy makers that advanced manufacturing or cutting-edge technology have, but they make up a huge section of the economy – with 51% of Welsh employees working in the foundational economy. Their working lives and the contributions they make deserve attention too.
It’s predominantly through these living wage and foundational economy workstreams that we engage with the concept of growth – the narrower idea of economic growth. Far from springtime flowers to some this concept evokes thoughts of industrialisation and environmental harm. The public policy debate in Wales – particularly where it intersects with the third sector – has seen a debate around whether economic growth is a desirable goal, with efforts to move towards a ‘wellbeing’ approach instead.
Whereas in years past many would look to settle the inherent tensions between development and sustainability via an ambition for ‘sustainable growth’, some in the Welsh policy space are now looking to other concepts, such as ‘degrowth’, or asking for a ‘wellbeing economy’ to replace efforts to increase GDP.
To me, a wellbeing economy is clearly a highly desirable aim. Focusing on a broader set of metrics than simply growth makes a huge amount of sense. We know that a rising tide doesn’t always lift all boats. The gap between the rich and the rest is growing. There is increasing evidence that, to some extent, pay has partly decoupled from productivity. The labour share of national income in the UK has fallen in recent decades, as a greater share goes to those who own, rather than those who work.
But does that mean we should eschew the quest for economic growth in favour of a wellbeing economy? The chart above – which maps life satisfaction and GDP per capita – suggests this may be a false dichotomy. There is a clear correlation between reported life satisfaction (which I would suggest is fairly synonymous with wellbeing) and GDP per capita. It follows that a growth in GDP per capita – economic growth – is very likely to correspond to a growth in wellbeing.
It’s right that we look to a broad set of measures when trying to create a fairer economy for Wales. It is fairly unsurprising that the Nordic countries of Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden, and Iceland find themselves at the top right of the graph – with some of the highest GDP per capita and life satisfaction in the world.
The Nordic model of strong trade union rights and mass union membership to protect worker incomes is a successful one. It rebalances economies away from the ultra-rich having a unilateral say over how much they pay their workers and how much they keep in their own pockets. Wales would be sensible to emulate it as much as it can. But we shouldn’t forget that this model does include having amongst the highest GDP per capita in the world.
And whilst there is some evidence of productivity growth (which tracks pretty consistently with GDP growth) and pay decoupling, there is no evidence of a total decoupling. Strong growth in GDP still means rising wages – for people of all income brackets. When we talk about how we can tackle poverty in Wales, economic growth is a tried-and-tested method.
Economic growth is good for the rights of workers, too. Harvard University’s Dani Rodrik found in his paper ‘An Industrial Policy for Good Jobs’ that the ‘sine qua non’ (for fellow non-Latin speakers, that’s ‘without which, not’ – an indispensable ingredient) of good jobs is a high enough level of labour productivity. That is, increasing productivity (doing more with less), a key component of economic growth, results in jobs that ‘provide a middle-class living standard, adequate benefits, reasonable levels of personal autonomy, economic security, and career ladders’.
The trade-offs between measures to support economic development and considerations such as equity and environmental protection are complex and multi-faceted. But Wales is one of the poorest areas of Western Europe on many measures. This results in human misery – including child poverty and people trapped in work where they are paid and respected too little. We should be hesitant about well-meaning calls to eschew economic growth.
The ambition of many to become a wellbeing economy is a welcome one. But the increasingly common refrain of ‘wellbeing or growth’ is looking at the issue the wrong way around. We should instead consider how we can continue to decouple growth from carbon emissions and utilise economic growth in Wales to reduce poverty and increase wellbeing.
