FFF tackles food poverty
Projects that help people move away from emergency food support and get access to healthy, nutritious food will be offered funding for a further year. Continue reading Fair Food Fund extended for another year
Tag: food poverty
Health Project launches Hungry for Change report
“Our experience is rich and valuable and we want to be part of the solution” – Sean Fitzharris
Pilton Community Health Project has launched its new report, ‘Hungry for Change’. The report, the result of conversations with local people experiencing food insecurity, was launched at the Old Kirk and Muirhouse Parish Church yesterday. PCHP want the report to be a catalyst for action to alleviate food insecurity for North Edinburgh residents and to tackle the root causes of poverty. Continue reading Health Project launches Hungry for Change report
Hungry for Change: PCHP to launch new report
Pilton Community Health Project is to launch a new report, Hungry for Change, tomorrow at the Old Kirk and Muirhouse Church on Pennywell Gardens. The report explores how community groups in north Edinburgh have responded to food insecurity in the area. Continue reading Hungry for Change: PCHP to launch new report
Tackling the scourge of food poverty
Sixteen projects across Scotland will share £350,000 to help families access fresh and healthy food, Communities Secretary Angela Constance has announced. It’s the second allocation of money from the £1 million Fair Food Fund which is already funding 20 projects. Continue reading Tackling the scourge of food poverty
North Edinburgh projects to benefit from Fair Food Fund
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. Continue reading North Edinburgh projects to benefit from Fair Food Fund
£1 million to tackle food poverty
Funding to help tackle food poverty in communities across Scotland will be doubled in 2016/17, Social Justice Secretary Alex Neil has announced. Continue reading £1 million to tackle food poverty
Tackling food poverty in North Edinburgh
Do you remember Pilton Community Health Project’s ‘Good Food For All’ event held last December?
Since that conference a group of local people and organisations have been meeting to develop ideas and to take the report findings on to the next stage – and you can be part of that!
The next food poverty meeting takes place this afternoon (Tuesday 2 June) from 1 – 2.30 at Pilton Community Health Project and is an opportunity to discuss what we can do to have our voices heard about food poverty. All welcome
Contact Anita for more information on 0131 551 1671
Food conference follow-up tomorrow
Taking the next steps forward to tackle food poverty
Pilton Community Health Project recently produced a report on December’s ‘Good Food for All’ conference which focused on food poverty in North Edinburgh.
http://pchp.org.uk/sites/default/files/resource/files/Good%20food%20for%20all%20final%20report.pdf
The report identifies a number of issues that we, as people living and working in the community, cannot solve ourselves. We need action on policy issues
Particularly:
– Living wages
– Job creation and security
– Social security and the punitive sanctions regime
– Better recognition of the contribution that this local community makes towards improving its own food culture and access to affordable, fresh, healthy food and further support for this
– The role of business in the provision of food.
You are invited to a meeting on Tuesday 28 April from 10 – 12 at Pilton Community Health Project to discuss how we might go about having our voices heard on these issues.
Please let me know if you are able to attend.
Anita Aggarwal (Community Development Manager)
Pilton Community Health Project
73 Boswall Parkway, Edinburgh, EH5 2PW
Telephone 0131 551 1671
Good food for ALL: a taste of things to come?
Do we have the ingredients for a well-fed North Edinburgh?
That was the question posed at a conference organised by Pilton Community Health Project at West Pilton Neighbourhood Centre last week – and more than forty delegates replied: yes we have!
The event examined food poverty in Scotland – what it is and it’s impact on poorer communities – and what is being done to tackle the problem. The conference was also an opportunity to celebrate successes and to showcase good work, share ideas and discuss and develop a plan to bring to bring more resources to North Edinburgh to tackle food poverty in the area.
A broad spectrum of speakers helped fashion the discussion over the course of the day. Bill Gray of Community Food & Health (Scotland) set the food poverty context, Broomhouse Health Strategy Group’s Lucy Aitchison talked specifically about their health project and explained why it works well and Mary Anne Macleod of the Poverty Alliance gave a presentation on national best practice.
There was also an opportunity to ‘tour’ information stalls to find out what’s happening locally – the Granton Gardeners, Fresh Start and Edinburgh North West Foodbank were all on hand to offer advice and information, while Granton Improvement Society also had an information stall.
The event was all about information, ideas and discussions and all of these ingredients were present in abundance – look on the conference as an appetising starter … a taste of things to come, maybe?
A conference report is currently being produced and it’s hoped the Good Food for ALL conference will result in an agreed community manifesto to tackle food poverty in North Edinburgh.
£0.5m Emergency Food Fund allocated across Scotland
Funding aimed at tackling food poverty has been allocated to 26 Scottish projects
Deputy first minister Nicola Sturgeon has announced £518,000 of grants during a visit to Greater Maryhill Food Bank, which last week alone provided food to 131 individuals, feeding 52 different families.
Lead organisations Citizens Advice Edinburgh and Edinburgh City Mission will receive the bulk of Edinburgh’s allocation, with The Rock Trust and Bethany Christian Trust also receiving funding.
In April, the Scottish government announced £1m to support the work of food providers through the Emergency Food Fund, half of which has been allocated to the charity FareShare, which redistributes surplus food from retailers to charities supporting communities. The Emergency Food Fund (EFF) opened for applications in June, and today’s s announcement sees the remaining £518,000 distributed among 17 local authority areas.
EFF was established to support projects which respond to immediate demands for emergency food aid and help to address the underlying causes of food poverty, and grants have been allocated to projects that concentrate on preventing food crisis recurring, those that build connections between food aid providers, advice and support agencies and organisations working to promote healthy eating and reduce food waste.
The Trussell Trust charity said the number of people who used their food banks in Scotland between April last year and March this year rose to 71,428 – FIVE TIMES the number which used them during the previous financial year.
Ms Sturgeon said: “The amount of people experiencing food poverty in Scotland is simply not acceptable. Worryingly the Trussell Trust has seen a 400 per cent increase in people using food banks between April 2013 and March 2014 which includes more than 22,000 children using these services.
“Welfare reform, benefit delays, benefit sanctions and falling incomes are all having a detrimental impact on the people of Scotland.
“Today I visited Greater Maryhill Food Bank, which is one of 35 food aid providers operating in Glasgow. Working in partnership with other local agencies, our Emergency Food Fund will help food aid organisations, such as this one, combat food poverty.
“Most people recognise that the increase in food bank use is directly linked to welfare reform and benefit cuts, and this fund is another example of what we are doing to mitigate the harmful effects of Westminster’s welfare cuts. However, the impact is still being felt by the most vulnerable in our society.
“One million people in Scotland are now living in relative poverty after housing costs, including more than 200,000 children.
“What is even more worrying is that 70 per cent of the welfare cuts are still to come – Scotland will see its welfare budget reduced by over £6 billion by 2015/16. And some estimates suggest that up to 100,000 more children could be living in poverty by 2020 if we continue with Westminster policies.
“It is vital that we gain the full powers of independence in order to build a better Scotland – one that protects people from poverty and helps them fulfill their potential in work and life.”
