Bridgend Sustainable Food Partnership worked with colleagues in Cwm Taf Morgannwg Public Health Dietetics to secure six months’ funding from Welsh Government through the Food Partnership small grant fund.
This cross-sector project aimed to provide public health dietetic capacity to support leadership actions and coordination across local food systems as well as upskill those supporting communities to access affordable, healthy and locally sourced foods. The project delivered on the following actions:
● Deliver Level 2 community food and nutrition skills programmes to ensure consistent, accurate, evidence-based messages are cascaded throughout communities
● Integrate evidence-based nutrition messages into local community food initiatives. Ensuring they meet best practice guidance and national standards
● Delivery of Get Cooking programmes in local communities, supported by local food supplies
● Raise the profile and connections between community food initiatives and education/health services across the food partnership
As a result of the funding, 27 community staff successfully gained a Level 2 accreditation in Community Food and Nutrition Skills, 8 being upskilled to deliver Get Cooking within schools, in line with national best practice standards.
The project saw 18 parents of primary school children, 20 adults with learning disabilities and 8 year 11 students with additional learning needs attend Get Cooking, an eight-week practical cooking programme which promotes the use of healthy, sustainable, and locally produced food. The programmes provide essential life skills with participants gaining knowledge, skills and confidence as well as planning to make positive dietary changes going forward.
The connections this project has built have had a far reaching impact and been responsible for a 150% increase in uptake of Food and Fun by local schools, across the borough. This will result in 480 places being made available to school children this summer, to support healthy behaviours at home and across the school curriculum.
The project was incredibly well-received and had much positive feedback. One school-based Family Engagement Officer said:
“Get Cooking has been great for the family engagement in the school and for many parents and the wider community. It has helped parents who feel isolated to come and socialise with other parents and talk freely, while learning cooking skills! It has really helped parents open up. To be able to carry this on would be extremely beneficial for parents to help their cooking skills, social skills, mental wellbeing and confidence”.
Vicky Krawec, Specialist Public Health Dietitian said: “This partnership has been incredibly successful and has allowed us to build capacity in educational settings to support a fairer local food system and tackle food challenges locally. We have also been able to upskill key partners across the food system to deliver school based initiatives such as Food and Fun”.