The idea
GL11 users experience significant food poverty - 88% struggle financially, food pantry usage has doubled in the last year. But our area has so much potential: local allotment holders want to share growing skills and seasonal produce; businesses want to offer surplus food and support cooking workshops and the council is supportive of community-led solutions. Most importantly, residents have ideas about how food could create jobs, improve health, strengthen connections and build a fairer local economy.
We'll co-develop with local people three community-led strands:
• food enterprises developing skills and creating local employment
• partnerships linking producers, allotment holders, businesses to enable expansion of our food pantry model
• skills programmes (cooking, growing, food hygiene) developing confidence and capabilities.
We'll document learning and share resources exploring how community-controlled food infrastructure creates lasting change.
What we'll deliver
- Transform GL11's outdoor space into a thriving garden.
- Create opportunities for intergenerational engagement.
- Reduce food waste by redistributing surplus food from producers and retailers to local people in need.
- Host community events centred around food. e.g. Harvest celebrations, crop swaps and cultural food pop ups.
- Run regular growing and cooking workshops: offer practical skills and confidence building activities.
- Connect experienced gardeners and cooks with beginners, fostering mentorship and knowledge-sharing.
- Transform underused land into productive green space, contributing to biodiversity and reducing environmental impact.
- Strengthen local resilience by building networks and collaborating on food projects.
- Expand community pantry offer to meet increasing demand for access to subsidised groceries.
- Improve health and wellbeing through food education, and social eating.
Why it's a great idea
Create welcoming spaces where food brings people together. Building a sense of unity and pride in place through sharing culture and companionship over food.
Put nutritious food within everyone's reach. This includes developing partnerships with local producers to reduce costs while improving food quality and sustainability in our community cafe and pantry.
Build skills and create opportunities in growing, cooking and nutrition, supporting intergenerational engagement from growing to eating.
Make food the starting point for wider support. Demonstrating how food access can integrate with essential services. Ensuring that anyone accessing food support can simultaneously access benefits advice, housing support and health services without additional barriers or appointments.
Strengthen community partnerships. working together with growers, producers, local schools, churches, other community spaces and food suppliers to strengthen local resilience and promote hyper local responses.
Steps to get it done
- Identify surplus: Partner with producers and suppliers to understand what surplus is regularly available.
- Facilitate co-planning sessions to design garden, shape workshops offer and cafe menu with community members
- Build team: Recruit volunteers, tutors and initial participants.
- Design and launch pilot activities: starting small: run a few workshops and pop-up events.
- Conduct surveys and focus groups to understand dietary preferences, cultural considerations, and food accessibility.
- Host and attend regular networking sessions with other community hubs/ food projects to share learning.
- Maintain a regular cafe and pantry service, emphasising sustainability and nutrition.
- Train staff and volunteers: Equip them to gently signpost services during food interactions.
- Host community events/ celebrations centred around food.
- Monitor and evaluate Track participation, outcomes, and community impact.
