Grants awarded to tackle food insecurity

19 projects across the borough have been awarded grants totalling £89,017 from the Food Justice Community Grants Fund that was launched by Lewisham Council and Lewisham Local earlier this year.

Funded by Lewisham Council’s Public Health team and funds raised through Lewisham Local’s Cost of Living Crisis Appeal, the grant fund was set up to help address challenges facing food-giving projects across the borough due to the cost-of-living crisis, such as an increase in demand from residents experiencing food insecurity, decreasing donations and increasing food prices.

The grants will support different areas of the vital work of different organisations, such as improving food supply, providing culturally-appropriate food to meet the needs of Lewisham’s diverse communities, meeting the running costs of social supermarkets, paying volunteer expenses and running cooking classes for parents.

Among the recipients of the grants announced today are:

·
Rehoboth Community Outreach Club

£3,000 awarded to ensure local people can access culturally-appropriate food

·
Feed the Hill

£3,000 awarded to cover ambient and fresh food costs, supermarket vouchers and volunteer expenses

·
Kids Kitchen Collective CIC

£5,218 awarded to fund cooking classes for parents of young children

·
Evelyn Community Store

£3,000 awarded to costs fresh and ambient food costs and cover volunteer costs

·
Lewisham Salvation Army

£3,000 awarded to cover fresh and ambient food costs

·
Rastafari Movement UK Wellbeing

£10,000 awarded to support existing food redistribution hub including fresh cultural foods, volunteer expenses and the provision of a project manager and coordinator

The Food Justice Community Grants are part of a wider effort across the borough to tackle food injustice, which is when people don’t have reliable access to enough affordable, nutritious and healthy food. Together with Lewisham Local and a diverse range of partner organisations across the borough, Lewisham Council launched a Food Justice Action Plan earlier this year to tackle the increase in food injustice exacerbated by the cost-of-living crisis.

Councillor Juliet Campbell, Lewisham Council’s Cabinet Member for Communities, Refugees and Wellbeing, said:

“We’re lucky to have some fantastic voluntary organisations in the borough who have gone the extra mile to put food on people’s plates. We know that these organisations are feeling the pinch, so I’m delighted that we’ve been able to support so many of them with grant funding. Each project makes a real difference to the lives of local people and, as part of our wider work to address food injustice, we’re pleased to be working closely with them to support some of our most vulnerable residents.”

Sam Hawksley, CEO at Lewisham Local, said:

“Lewisham’s community food projects, powered by volunteers, are continuing to provide a lifeline for many residents who are struggling financially due to the cost-of-living crisis. The projects funded demonstrate the creativity and passion of local groups to come up with solutions to address the needs of the local community. We will continue to look for ways to support these groups through our food justice work with the Good Food Lewisham network and encouraging residents to volunteer or donate to support a local food project in their community.”

Watch our video about the Food Justice Community Grants Fund, and read more about how we're fighting food injustice across the borough.