Success stories abound
Across the UK there are many approaches being developed – both innovative and well-established - to improve the health and wellbeing of disadvantaged communities. The community food projects carrying out this inspiring work have learned a wealth of useful lessons that could enable other projects across the UK to achieve similar success in their own communities. However the reality is that, due to the local nature of such work, projects tend to be relatively disconnected from the work happening elsewhere in the UK. While there is no one-size-fits all solution to food poverty - as a locally experienced problem it requires locally tailored solutions – many solutions are similar and so could be shared. Working through the Food Access Network is a great way to share them.
Integrated approaches
Many community food projects start life on a shoe string budget as a community response to particular local issues that have arisen. As a result, projects often do not have enough time or money to expand their work or integrate into local government policy. However, with the right know-how projects could get their work included in Local Area Agreements, Local Strategic Plans and other similar plans, which might lead to longer term funding. Such funding could then allow projects to reach out to more people in the community, develop effective partnerships, strengthen community ownership of food poverty solutions and embed those solutions into local government policy.
Sharing local solutions
The Food Access Network helps projects become more successful and develop longer term solutions. We are keen to hear about what you are trying and why things are and aren’t working. We can then share these lessons with our growing network, so that they can share in the successes and – we hope – avoid some pitfalls. We can’t do this without you! So please let us know about the approaches you are developing – successful or not.
UK Liaison
The Food Access Network is coordinating a series of events across the UK to share information between projects from across Scotland, Wales, England, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.
In July 2006 representatives from community food projects across the UK and the Republic of Ireland met for the first UK liaison event, ‘Spreading Success, Sharing Solutions’. Fifty participants from these countries came together in Birmingham to share experiences and good practice and learn about each others’ work. There were presentations from representatives of each country’s food access networks and a choice of workshops covering issues around continuity, working in partnership, monitoring and evaluation and the relationship between local initiatives and central Government policy.
Feedback confirmed a demand for more of these events, with the workshops and opportunities to discuss knowledge, skills and the daily challenges faced by those working on community food projects being particularly popular.
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