Radio Station’s Compassion Pledge is a UK First

From a press release to news@media.info
Posted 17 December 2014, 7.37am est

Pirate FM has joined a swathe of Cornish businesses and organisations who are backing the new 'Compassionate Cornwall' Initiative. The idea is very simple, to treat others as you would have them treat you.

The Charter for Compassion was founded in 2008 by British author Karen Armstrong, and has sparked a vast international movement of individuals, organisations and communities committed to creating positive change in the world. Tam Martin Fowles from Penzance became a Charter Partner in 2013, after founding Hope in the Heart, a Community Interest Company.

Tam registered Cornwall as a compassionate community in August of this year and contacted Pirate FM to see if the station could help spread word of how individuals and businesses could get involved. It became clear very quickly that the initiative was something Pirate FM not only was happy to cover, but also join.

Journalist Rachel Yates went to the appointment and said: "Everything that Tam was telling me fitted in perfectly with our values and aims at Pirate FM. It is something we already do through our daily work in the way we treat our listeners, contributors and clients as well as each other.

"Covering the fact that families throughout west Cornwall are donating items to go back to Sierra Leone on the Gypsum Centennial and letting people know how they can help, our current Toy Appeal for Children's Hospice South West, our Local Heroes awards, past campaigns such as the 'K for Kimberly'; they all demonstrate our own compassion but also that of our listeners.  Our efforts to save energy and be more sustainable, the way we treat clients, help out listeners, wave at children excited to see the Pirate FM car - it all counts."

Managing Director Mark Peters added: "As a heritage business in this region we have a responsibility to support the local area.  This is a great way to prove Pirate FM is a local business, fully connected to the economy and committed to the community."

Tam said: "I have been stunned - and delighted - by the positive response from all kinds of people in Cornwall, and overwhelmed with the task of co-ordinating an initiative that I expected would grow slowly and has, in fact, snowballed into something huge in just three months."

Tam added that this is just the beginning, and hopes that "phase two" of the initiative will attract much wider support, with institutions such as Cornwall Council, Churches Together and the Interfaith Forum, local education and health services, and major businesses coming on board.  She said: "Cornwall is a county that is already rich in compassionate action, and it is entirely appropriate that we should be the beacon that lights the way for other communities to follow."

Any organisation, business or institution is invited to become a partner of The Compassionate Cornwall Initiative and Charter for Compassion International.