Launched last November by food and farming charity Sustain, the Real Bread Campaign is now celebrating securing a grant from the Big Lottery Fund’s Local Food scheme.

Over the next four years, the Real Bread Campaign will be working around the country with independent bakers, public institutions such as schools and hospitals and local community projects including food co-ops and community cafés, to help make Real Bread accessible to more people from all sectors of society. The campaign will also promote the pleasures and benefits of locally produced Real Bread and help to spread both commercial and domestic breadmaking skills. The Local Food scheme funding will allow Sustain to appointment a full-time project officer to co-ordinate the campaign, a role filled until now by volunteers. 

Sustain’s Campaigns Director, Richard Watts said:

“This extra funding is a fantastic boost for the Real Bread Campaign in our continuing fight for the improvement of bread in Britain.” 

Mark Wheddon, Local Food Programme Manager added:

“We feel that this is an exciting campaign which could have a real impact on the accessibility of locally produced bread and we are happy to support it. The Local Food programme will be funding further projects right across the country and is currently accepting applications until 21 August 2009. Demand is high so we would advise those organisations who are thinking of applying to ensure that their project clearly meets Local Food’s key objectives.”

In April 2009, the Real Bread Campaign hit the headlines with Stick One On ‘em! an initiative that continues to stimulate debate around the lack of transparency in the labelling of processing aids in industrial bread. 

The key aims of the Real Bread Campaign are to help stimulate increased consumption and local production of Real Bread, made with all natural ingredients and no artificial additives, improvers or processing aids. Those interested in learning more, searching or adding to the Real Bread Finder or signing up for Breadcrumbs, the Real Bread Campaign’s monthly newsletter can do so at http:www.realbreadcampaign.org

ENDS

For more information, please contact Chris Young or Richard Watts at the Real Bread Campaign on: realbread@sustainweb.org or 020 7837 1228

http://www.realbreadcampaign.org/   

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Notes to editors:

• The Real Bread Campaign is a not-for-profit initiative, co-ordinated by the UK charity Sustain: the alliance for better food and farming.  Its aims are to encourage and support increased consumption and local production of Real Bread in Britain.
• Local Food: has been developed by a consortium of 16 national environmental organisations, and is managed on their behalf by the Royal Society of Wildlife Trusts (RSWT). Supported by the Big Lottery Fund's Changing Spaces programme, Local Food will distribute grants to a variety of food related projects to make locally grown food more accessible. www.localfoodgrants.org
• The Royal Society of Wildlife Trusts (RSWT): is a registered charity, incorporated by Royal Charter, to promote conservation and manage environmental programmes throughout the whole of the UK. It has established management systems for holding and distributing funds totalling more than £20 million annually to environmental projects across the UK.
• The Big Lottery Fund’s Changing Spaces programme was launched in November 2005 to help communities enjoy and improve their local environments. The programme funds a range of activities from local food schemes and farmers markets, to education projects teaching people about the local environment.
• The Big Lottery Fund, the largest of the National Lottery good cause distributors, has been rolling out £2 million in Lottery good cause money every 24 hours to health, education, environment and charitable causes across the UK. http://www.biglotteryfund.org.uk/.
• The Real Bread Campaign is partially funded by the Sheepdrove Trust.