Cornwall Independent Poverty Forum are looking   for people to be part of a 15 member Citizens Panel to address the issue of insecure housing and homelessness in Penzance. The question it seeks to address is:

“High housing costs, low paid insecure work, eviction and homelessness are all issues that blight local communities in Cornwall, including Penzance. How can we as a community come together to address these issues?”

Some case examples it might look at include:

• A lone parent in rent arrears and threatened with eviction

• A young person sofa surfing because they have no secure accommodation of their own

• A homeless man with complex needs sleeping rough

This is about local people having a say on issues that affect their community.

The 15-member citizens panel will first learn about the issues in depth before discussing and deciding a way forward.   

• They will listen to expert presentations

• They will discuss real life examples

• They will quiz their elected representatives

The citizens panel will convene once a week for two hours over five weeks in order to arrive at a deeper understanding of the issues along with a set of recommendations. These will form part of a report which will be shared with the wider public and sent to elected representatives.   

Interested? Closing date for application is 15th September

Click here to apply now