Those behind the Donate the Rebate scheme say that if every second home owner in Cornwall took part, £5.4m could be redistributed from the ‘wealthy’ who would hardly care to pay, to people who desperately need help in one of the poorest regions of northern Europe. The number of people asking for food parcels in parts of Cornwall has risen by 75% in the last 12 months, while 1,500 people are in emergency accommodation and more than 21,000 are on housing waiting lists. At the same time, property prices continue to rise, inflated by people from other parts of the UK snapping up houses as bolt holes or as investments. Rob Love, the chief executive and co-founder of Crowdfunder, which created the campaign and is headquartered near the beach in Newquay, north Cornwall, said it was a way of redistributing money from the “haves to the have-nots”. He said: “In times like these, we can’t just rely on governments, charities or companies: we need a more effective way of redistributing wealth to those who really need it. We have to get out of this national emergency and everyone has a role to play.” Love said he thought the government’s energy bill support plan was “quite generous”, but added: “It’s not giving all the money to the right people.” He pointed out that millions of pounds would go to wealthy people – possibly including some MPs – who owned properties in second home hotspots in Cornwall such as the Rock, St Ives and St Mawes. “We are not against second home owners. We are not angry with them and we are not bothering the government. We provide a mechanism that gets the money to the right places.” Second home owners who want to take part are asked to go to the Donate the Rebate website and identify the Cornish charity they would like their rebate to go to. Love said Cornwall was the obvious place to start, but he hoped to expand the program to other places with many second homes. Monique Collins, director of Disc, a service and sharing center in Newquay, one of the organizations to benefit from the scheme, said it was currently helping to provide food and help with electricity bills to 98 families and 55 singles individuals. up 75% on this time last year – and expect the number to double this winter. “I fear autumn and winter,” he said. “We are heading for disaster. Newquay and places like it have become a playground for the rich and they need to contribute.” Disc user Harriet, 23, said her condition was “terrible”. The mother of a 15-month-old boy, Noah, said her electricity bill had tripled since March. “I don’t know what I’m going to do this winter. It can be a choice between food and power. I haven’t managed to do a proper food shop since May already. I make sure Noah has his food, but then he buys bits for me as I go.” He said he became angry when he walked around Newquay and saw people in luxury second homes. “It’s so unfair. Expensive apartments are being built when what we need are affordable homes.” Archie Bland and Nimo Omer take you to the top stories and what they mean, free every weekday morning Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain information about charities, online advertising and content sponsored by external parties. For more information, see our Privacy Policy. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and Google’s Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. Julian German, a Cornwall councilor whose patch includes St Mawes, said: “We have an obligation to our struggling neighbors to help them where we can. The poverty faced by some people in Cornwall is astonishing.’ Kim Conchie, chief executive of Cornwall Chamber of Commerce, said: “People shouldn’t have to choose between feeding their families or turning on the heating this winter. We have a fundamental difference between people who live here and those who have second homes here.” He said he believed many people who had visited second homes for years and connected with the community would donate – but accepted hard-nosed investors looking to make a profit on a Cornish property might be harder to reach. “Second home owners have a duty to contribute if they are to benefit from the great place we live and work. I think this is a fantastic moment where they can really make a gesture. Every second home owner should do this, to save their conscience and make a difference.” Details of the campaign can be found at www.poor-nextdoor.com.
