Published on Thursday 14 April 2022
Following the range of community food support which BCP Council has offered throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, BCP’s Access to Food partnership has been awarded £194,000 from the National Lottery Community Fund, which will allow its essential work to continue over the next three years.
The Access to Food partnership is made up of BCP Council, Public Health Dorset, Faithworks and other Community and Voluntary Sector organisations. Founded in March 2020, these organisations have been working together to help vulnerable residents access nutritious food over the last two years.
The partnership is working on several projects and initiatives including growing, cooking, community meals and resources that help people to access food when in crisis as well as building skills and community resilience. As the cost-of-living crisis develops, supporting local community food providers and partner organisations is essential to help local residents in need.
The partnership has also recently been awarded a Bronze Award in iESE’s Public Sector Transformation Awards 2022 in the ‘Working Together Category’.
This award recognises the hard work which frontline workers and volunteers have been doing to contribute to helping our residents receive essential food support. They have also created a strong and lasting relationship between residents, local businesses and BCP Council which facilitates access to resources and brings together a network of community food support providers.
Councillor Jane Kelly, Lead Member for Communities, said: "I am delighted that the hard work and efforts of both the Access to Food partnership and our partner organisations have been recognised with this award.
"We are so grateful to everyone involved for the support which they have provided across the board, the impact of which has been felt throughout our communities to combat the added pressure on households over the last few years. We continue to encourage those who are in need to reach out to their local community food providers for help and to access the support which is in place right across the BCP region".
To find out more information about the Access to Food partnership and local community food provision, visit https://www.bcpcouncil.gov.uk/accesstofoodpartnership.
Notes to editors:
- The Improvement and Efficiency Social Enterprise or iESE is a non-profit organisation which was formed by local authorities with the goal of transforming public services
- The iESE Public Sector Transformation Awards recognises the work of public sector organisations in using innovation to improve local public services