In January 2022, C3SC publicised the new real Living Wage rate for Wales of £9.90 per hour. C3SC is a long-standing accredited Living Wage employer and was proud to play a key role in Cardiff being recognised as a Living Wage City in 2019.
One local charity, Cylch Meithrin Ysgol Glan Morfa heeded the call. Established in 2019, the object of their CIO is to advance and promote the education of mainly but not exclusively pre-school children in Splott, through the medium of the Welsh language. They run a Welsh language nursery based in Ysgol Glan Morfa in Splott, employing 4 staff and looking after approximately 30 children per day, and are funded primarily through childcare fees, paid in bulk through Cardiff Council’s 30 Hours offer.
C3SC’s Third Sector Development Officer Thomas Crockett volunteers as Chairperson of the Cylch and he tells the story: “As a Committee we were keen to reward our hard working staff and to retain their services in a competitive market. We are conscious that childcare can be a low paid profession and wanted to do our bit to buck that trend.
We learned through C3SC of the Real Living Wage accreditation scheme promoted by Cardiff Council. We discussed the Real Living Wage scheme as a Committee and agreed that we had sufficient reserves and regular income to increase each Staff Member’s salary by at least £1, to ensure their pay corresponds with the real Living Wage rates. Our Cylch Meithrin became an accredited employer in November 2022.
The Scheme was easy to register with and we will receive Living Wage merchandise including a plaque, stickers for our windows and vehicles, pens, pin badges and a tote bag. The feedback from our Staff has been positive and we feel we have been able to reward them in a very meaningful way for their hard work over the past year. We now feel we offer very competitive wage rates within our sector.”
If you want to find out more about the benefits of being a Living Wage employer and how to accredit, then please click here. To read more about the Living Wage Foundation’s work in the third sector, click here.
