The Cornish pasty community throughout Cornwall and beyond has raised a record £20,000 for the Cornish Pasty Community Fund during this year’s Cornish Pasty Week.

The money is going direct to local schools to purchase cookery equipment and ingredients, fund food-related field trips and provide ongoing cookery sessions.

During the week, pasty makers also visited two of the first schools to receive some of the money - Sandy Hill Academy near St Austell and Halwin Primary School near Helston. During the visits, over 130 pupils got to learn from professional bakers and crimpers how to make, crimp and bake their own pasty.

Head Teacher of Halwin Primary School, Ms. Carr, said: “Halwin students absolutely loved making pasties to celebrate Cornish Pasty Week and they learnt so much about where their food comes from and the importance of the great Cornish pasty. As a small school of just 63 pupils, the funds we have received from the Cornish Pasty Community Fund will enable us to take the children on field trips to learn about the food chain, from farm to plate.”

Sandy Hill Academy will be using the money to buy new equipment and ingredients to run regular after school cookery clubs.

Both Cornish Pasty Week and the Cornish Pasty Community Fund are led by the Cornish Pasty Association, a not-for-profit collective of makers of genuine Cornish pasties. In recent years, the Association’s members agreed that they wanted to do more to support the community of Cornwall, which is how the Community Fund came about.

Chairman Jason Jobling explained, “We wanted to show how much we value Cornwall and its people. Helping youngsters learn about food and, of course, pasty making, therefore felt like a natural and fitting way for us to do that. Others seem to agree, because we have been overwhelmed by support from the entire Cornish pasty community. Pasty shops up and down the country have made donations and some of our key suppliers have come on board as sponsors, including key sponsor Kepak, along with Conway Bailey, Hay Farm and ADM Milling. Half of their sponsorship has gone straight into the Community Fund.”

The money has already supported 20 schools, from Bude and Saltash to Penzance and the Isles of Scilly. Applications are still open and any schools interested in applying for a share of the fund can find all the details on the Cornish Pasty Association’s website.