Category: News

Feeding Gloucestershire becomes a CIO

Feeding Gloucestershire are extremely pleased to announce that we are now registered with the Charities Commission as a Charitable Incorporated Organisation. This is exciting for us as we continue work towards our vision for Gloucestershire to be a county where everyone can enjoy good food and nobody goes hungry.

We would like to thank those who have given their time and support to get us to this point, and to Gloucestershire County Council for funding our work to date.

Thanks go to our former steering group members – Sue Weaver and Julie Craig (Gloucestershire County Council), Jenny Phelps (FWAG SW) Phil Coysh (formerly The Trussell Trust), Amanda Strover (Stroud District Foodbank), Nick Penny (Forest Voluntary Action Forum – FVAF), Leanne Purnell (Gloucester City Council) and Lisa Jevins (Barneys Pantry). Additional thanks go to Andrew Forsey and Rose Bray from Feeding Britain and to Bishop Rachel Treweek.

We would also like to thank the many incredible organisations who have been part of the journey so far, and we look forward to continuing to work with them.

We would like to introduce our trustees – Sarah Avery, Helen Hutchings, Emma Keating Clarke, Corrie Sissons and Steve Townsend – you can find out more about them here

Community Conversation – Good Food, What does it mean to you?

Feeding Gloucestershire are collaborating with Good Food Cheltenham and Nourishing Gloucester on a cross district community conversation asking our communities ‘Good Food- what does it means to you?’.
The way all of us produce, buy, cook, eat and throw away food is important and we believe in the true value of good food for people, places, and planet. Ultra processed food impacts our health, our communities, our economy, and contributes to the climate and ecological emergencies the planet faces today.
If you live or work in Gloucestershire we would love to hear from you, please join the conversation and tell us what good food means to you. You can join the conversation here or scan the QR code now.

Nourishing Gloucester – February Forum

Thank you to those who were able to join us for the 2nd Forum on February the 1st.

Feedback from the forum can be seen here – NG Forum Feb 2024

During the forum four areas of work were prioritised and working groups have begun to form, the areas prioritised are

  • Accessing Fresh Local Food
  • Distribution and Surplus
  • Nutrition and Learning
  • Community Growing

Wrap around support and Mapping are areas of work that are already in progress. Health and Wellbeing is a strand of work that runs through all of the priorities and funding is an area we will review with  organisations involved as this work progresses.

One thing that was requested at the forum was a directory of organisations across Gloucester who are or wish to be involved with this work. So we have created a google form to collect Directory information and will host a Gloucester specific directory. Please fill in this form to sign up to the directory and to tell us if you would like to be involved in any of the working groups.

We now have a date and venue for our first action group on Community Growing – details can be found here

Funding Update

Greener Gloucestershire Climate Change Community Fund

The fund is targeted at projects that help reduce carbon emissions and spread the word about ways to reduce emissions.

The fund can deliver grants of up to £4,999 to eligible groups. The closing date for applications is the 26th February. This is a short application window as we have very limited funds available.

Full details are available on their website here.

 

Naturesave Trust – Grant to reduce Food Waste and Insecurity

Environmental charity, Naturesave Trust, has announced that the January to February funding round is now open for applications.  The theme for this funding round will be Sustainable food.

The Trust will be looking to support community projects working to reduce food waste and food insecurity.  Organisations eligible to apply include charities, social enterprises and grassroots community organisations.

Each year the Trust donates a percentage of their income generated from Naturesave Insurance and uses these funds to support environmental and conservation projects across the UK.

In previous funding rounds, the Trust has awarded grants of between £500 to £2,500.

You can learn more about this funding  here. The closing date for applications is the 29th February 2024.

 

CLA Charitable Trust – Grants to Help Disabled and Disadvantaged People Connect with Nature (England and Wales)

Charities and not-for-profit organisations in England and Wales can apply for grants of up to £5,000 for projects that help disabled or disadvantaged people connect with nature and the countryside.

The funding, which is made available through the CLA Charitable Trust, supports projects that improve the physical and mental health and wellbeing of people who are disabled or disadvantaged by helping them to visit and participate in recreational and educational opportunities in the countryside.

Priority is given to projects that focus on children and young people, disadvantaged financially, physically, mentally, or from areas of deprivation.

Funding can be used to support projects, capital works and running costs. You can learn more here.

There are usually three application rounds each year.  The application closing dates for 2024 will be announced shortly.

Hidden Hardship: Everyday Experiences, Coping Strategies, and Barriers to Wellbeing in Rural Britain

A new participatory research project by Dr Stephanie Denning at Coventry University funded by the British Academy and Leverhulme Trust has sought to better understand: people’s experiences of rural hardship, coping strategies, and barriers to improved wellbeing.

What did the research find?
The research found that hardship can be defined as struggle and tough times, reflecting daily struggle more than one-off ‘emergency’ situations. Rural hardship is not the same as urban hardship. The causes of rural hardship can be summarised as ‘lacks of’ including government support and investment, employment, transport – the jigsaw illustration further illustrates this.

In people’s coping strategies, huge importance was given to informal support networks with friends and families, in addition to support offered by local groups although these could be difficult to access with limited transport options and a fear of stigma.

Barriers to improved wellbeing were to some degree perceived as outside of people’s control, which makes it difficult for people to envisage hardship improving. These included the ‘lacks of’ such as problems with transport, lack of government support and investment, and stigma/shame linked to inequality.

Hidden Hardship research recommendations:
The research’s Report for Policymakers and Community Leaders concludes with five recommendations which are summarised here: (see the full report for more details)
1. There need to be more tailored national government and national voluntary sector responses to rural hardship.
2. More government and voluntary sector support is needed for individuals experiencing daily rural hardship including within the welfare state to address the high cost of rural living.
3. Rural residents need support accessing transport to get to medical appointments at GP surgeries and hospitals with local GP practices/branches re-opening and/or staying open.
4. Local organisations and leaders (including Church leaders) should raise awareness in the general population in rural areas such as the North Cotswolds that people are experiencing hardship, and sensitively give a voice to people experiencing hardship to share their experiences.
5. The ‘lacks of’ that cause and affect rural hardship need to be addressed in local and national government planning, notably public transport/infrastructure, affordable housing, and amenities.

Want to know more?
• Visit the project website for more information including the full Report for Policymakers and Community Leaders and accompanying 2 page briefing
• Email the project lead Dr Stephanie Denning

Cheltenham Food Strategy Group

Following our launch in June 2023, a  Food Strategy Group has formed and has started to explore the issues identified through our launch and from conversations across the borough.

This group is facilitated by Feeding Gloucestershire and comprises of representatives from –

Cheltenham Borough Council, Feed Cheltenham, Good Food Cheltenham/Project Grow, Planet Cheltenham/Vison 21 and local business

Bringing together community food support, community growing, sustainability and business with local government to explore a food strategy for Cheltenham. This group is working to identify the priority areas needed to create a sustainable food network and strategy.

The first strand of work that has been identified is food surplus/waste with a meeting scheduled for the 9th of February.

 

Nourishing Gloucester Forum

Building a sustainable food network was one of the priority areas identified at Feeding Gloucestershire’s launch in Gloucester and reflects the recommendations made in Nourishing Gloucester: A Food Strategy for All

Through the Nourishing Gloucester Forum, which is being facilitated by Feeding Gloucestershire and Gloucester City Council,  we will explore how we can bring together strategic and policy priorities with practical community delivery, knowledge and experience – to identify key development areas and create an action plan that is reflective of the needs of Gloucester City and the organisations that support the city.

At our first Forum meeting in November 2023 we explored two questions

  • What we need for a Sustainable Food Network by 2030?
  • How can we create the Network and who should be around the table?

Since our last forum we have been working in the background and we now have a dedicated email address, [email protected], and social media accounts so you can connect with us –Facebook, Instagram and Twitter

At our next forum on the 1st February 2024 we will be looking at deciding our priorities and asking who will join us to take this work forward

Changes to our membership and a new directory

Following on from our district launches and recent conversations, we have decided to move away from being a membership network and become a more open informal network. The decision has been taken as we were concerned that by offering membership only benefits, we were excluding organisations that could benefit. Our current membership offer will now be an open offer to organisations across the county.

We will be changing the members page on our website to become a directory and adding a directory map. We will welcome organisations and businesses  who share the ethos of Feeding Gloucestershire and invite them to become a part of the directory.

The aim is for the directory and the map is for them to become  tools for highlighting the work that is happening across the county and as a general resource for organisations and people. These changes offer an opportunity to map the wider food landscape and we would like to welcome farmers, producers,  hospitality and other food related businesses and organisations to become part of the directory.

We will begin implementing these changes on the 1st of November and if you would like to be listed on the map please fill in our form here

GREAT Food Gloucestershire

Exciting news

Feeding Gloucestershire are currently working with Jenny (Sustainable Food Places Gloucestershire) to bring to life the GREAT Food Gloucestershire Campaign which will be hosted on our website.

We will update on progress through our social media.

 

Gloucester District Launch

For our second district launch we were in Gloucester. Our thanks go to Dawn from The Venture: White City for helping us to arrange this event – from arranging the venue, to bringing the Eat Well Wagon and providing lunch. For those who have not heard of the Eat Well Wagon, it is a mobile kitchen and a wonderful community resource that has been making appearances across Gloucester during HAF.
Additional thanks go to Clare from Gloucestershire Gateway Trust and Gloucester Services for providing a taster table of delicious food from local producers.
During the event Leanne Purnell (Gloucester City Council wellbeing team) told us about the work that has been done on ‘Nourishing Gloucester – Gloucester City Food Strategy’.
We also spent time discussing the work that has been happening across the city and the challenges and opportunities to make change for the communities of Gloucester City and the county. Conversations were rich and varied and attendees left considering who else should be a part of the conversation we started at the launch.
Our thanks go to everyone who was able to join us for the launch.
Here is the link to the information and learning from this event – Gloucester Launch