About the conference

Following successful joint conferences in Scotland, A Cash First Future and Cash First Communities, IFAN and Trussell ran an online conference showcasing cash first or income-focused practices to poverty and food insecurity in the South West of England.

The two-hour session provided an overview of cash first approaches taken in various local authority areas across the South West as well as the groundbreaking work in Scotland, the Scottish Government's plan Cash-First: Towards ending the need for food banks in Scotland.

You can watch back a recording of the conference and access its resources below.

Following this conference, IFAN and Trussell are continuing to work with partners across the south west to promote the adoption of a cash first pledge by local authorities:

• distributing local crisis support/local welfare scheme at least in part via direct cash payments to people seeking support;
• distributing their allocation of Household Support Fund funding at least in part via direct cash payments;
• demonstrating understanding and prioritisation of a cash first approach across all departments;
• committed to delivering training or co-delivering training on prioritising cash first responses within local authority teams;
• and promoting ‘Worrying About Money?’ resources for their area with their local interactive version linked or embedded on their local authority website.

Following their collaboration with Transformation Cornwall, Trussell, and IFAN to promote a cash first approach to food insecurity in the county, Cornwall Council committed to the cash first pledge in early 2025.