Pilton Community Health Project, Granton Community Gardeners, Dr Bell’s Family Centre and Pilmeny Development Project are among twenty-one projects to benefit from a share of a £900,000 fund to tackle food poverty.
The first wave of the Scottish Government’s Fair Food Transformation Fund will help initiatives across the country that are seeking to reduce reliance on emergency food aid, by establishing more sustainable approaches to ensuring families can access healthy, nutritious food.
It is part of the overarching £1 million a year Fair Food Fund, with this £900,000 funding being allocated across 2016-17 and 2017-18.
Projects supported include schemes to grow fresh produce, cooking classes, community meals, and community cafes, all of which bring people and communities together in a positive social environment while offering support to those in greatest need.
Communities Secretary Angela Constance made the announcement earlier today during a visit to St Paul’s Youth Forum in Blackhill, Glasgow. The Forum has received £46,438 for its ‘Beyond Foodbank’ initiative, which is aiming to move away from emergency food provision.
It runs weekly gardening workshops for young people, and community meals where local people can learn how to make an affordable healthy meal from locally grown produce.
Speaking during her visit, Ms Constance said: “I have been very clear that no-one should have to rely on emergency food provision in Scotland, and this money will help to ensure we can create sustainable solutions to food poverty.
“We want to encourage community based initiatives such as St Paul’s where people are supported in a dignified way and where the underlying causes of food poverty can be addressed.
“And we will continue to work closely with individual projects to help them develop and build sustainable solutions to tackle food poverty across Scotland.”
Neil Young, Youth Team Leader from St Paul’s Youth Forum, said: “We’re delighted to receive funding from the Scottish Government’s Fair Food Transformation Fund. This will enable us to help people in food poverty in Blackhill/Provanmill to move beyond the shame and embarrassment that comes with being dependent on Food Banks and instead be assets in their community, contributing alongside others as equals.
“From its conception, this project has been community led, and people are taking pride in seeing what they can produce from cucumbers, to pizza, eggs and honey. The project will endeavour to ensure that no one goes hungry, and the power is shifted from being dependent on others to helping each other to find a community solution to an on-going problem.”
The projects to receive funding are in the following table:
| Organisation | Location |
| Befriend a Child | Aberdeen
(Williamson, Torry) |
| Kate’s Kitchen | Dumfries and Galloway (Annandale & Eskdale) |
| Cyrenians | Edinburgh
(Various surrounding areas) |
| Dr Bells Family Centre | Edinburgh
(Leith) |
| Granton Community Gardeners | Edinburgh
(Granton) |
| Pilmeny Development Project | Edinburgh
(Leith) |
| Pilton Community Health Project | Edinburgh
(North Edinburgh) |
| Bridging the Gap | Glasgow
(Gorbals) |
| Castlemilk Parish Church of Scotland | Glasgow
(Castlemilk) |
| Central and West Integration Network | Glasgow
(Central and West Glasgow) |
| Community Renewal Trust | Glasgow
(Govanhill) |
| Crookston Community Group | Glasgow
(Crookston, Pollok) |
| St Pauls Youth Forum | Glasgow
(Blackhill, Provanmill) |
| Woodlands Community Development Trust | Glasgow
(Woodlands) |
| Kyle of Sutherland Development Trust | Highland
(Kyle of Sutherland) |
| Stepwell Consultancy | Inverclyde
(Greenock) |
| Penicuik Community Alliance | Midlothian
(Penicuik) |
| Nourish Scotland | National |
| Beith Community Development Trust | North Ayrshire
(Beith) |
| Calderwood Baptist Church | South Lanarkshire
(East Kilbride) |
| Start-Up Stirling | Stirling
(All Stirling) |
In addition to the projects receiving funding, the Scottish Government is also giving further support to unsuccessful applicants to develop their proposals in order to secure future funding, particularly with a focus on encouraging a move away from emergency food provision towards more sustainable methods.
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