Food Literacy Educational Programme
Monitoring and Evaluation Lead
Call for Applicants
About the Programme
The local food partnerships in Bridgend, Newport, Rhondda Cynon Taf and the Vale of Glamorgan are collaborating on a project to scale-up a year-long, place-based food literacy programme developed by Slade Farm’s Fieldwork Studio CIC. This evaluation period will run from July 2026-March 2027.
Beyond funding a series of school visits to farms, the programme aims to develop a deeper and more connected model of food, farming and outdoor learning rooted in place, relationships and long-term community benefits. Alongside direct, repeated pupil engagement throughout the year, the programme includes strands focused on a mentoring pathway for other local growers wishing to trial this methodology, school leadership support and investment in practical infrastructure that can support future delivery and regional capacity. We also anticipate that it will provide a practice-informed interface for policy and commissioning partners.
Rather than evaluating a series of isolated activities, the programme aims to understand how these interconnected elements contribute to a wider model of food literacy infrastructure and what lessons can inform future policy and investment in Wales.
We are now calling for applications for an external partner to support with monitoring and evaluation of the project.
Role Details:
Budget: Up to £10,000, to include:
- VAT (where applicable)
- Expenses (travel and subsistence)
Timeline: Contract to begin in September 2026; with all deliverables to be completed by 28th February 2027 (please note these timescales are fixed due to grant requirements)
Location: Hybrid, with engagement across the region where necessary.
Reporting to: Respective food partnership coordinators
Work Required:
We are looking to contract an independent consultant to act as learning partner and support the developmental evaluation of the distinctive threads within the larger programme, while drawing out the wider impact of the whole and resulting policy recommendations. This will require working with the schools and students involved, farmers and growers engaged in school visits and mentoring, and the food partnership coordinators.
The appointed consultant will work alongside programme partners to:
- develop an evaluation approach that captures both individual workstreams and the programme as a whole
- generate robust evidence of outcomes, learning and impact
- support reflective learning throughout delivery
- identify transferable learning for schools, growers and local food partnerships
- develop practical resources that can be used beyond the life of the project
- produce evidence-informed recommendations for future policy and investment in food literacy and farm-based learning in Wales
The evaluation should recognise that this is a developmental pilot intended to test and refine an emerging model rather than simply measure outputs.
Experience and knowledge
To deliver this work, we expect the contractor to have experience in and knowledge of
- Ability to do both desk research and fieldwork across a range of settings, including farms, allotments and schools (Essential)
- Ability to communicate well with a range of stakeholders, face to face, over the phone, online and in writing (Essential)
- Ability to summarise and make complex outcomes understandable in simple language (Essential)
- Demonstrated experience of monitoring and evaluation, developing recommendations and written reports (Essential)
- Proven ability to deliver projects to agreed timescales and budgets (Essential)
- A strong commitment to diversity and inclusion (Essential)
- Working knowledge and comprehensive understanding of the Welsh policy context for food literacy work, particularly the Future Generations Act and Community Food Strategy (Essential)
- Working knowledge and comprehensive understanding of the food system and farming in Wales and/or working knowledge and comprehensive understanding of food literacy and education in a school setting (Essential)
- Welsh speaking (Desirable)
Any data and information collected through the project must be provided to Bridgend Food Partnership as grant lead, and deleted by the contractor once the contract is complete
Outputs required:
- Policy review and best practice summary of programmes to support and resource farm-readiness for schools visits and food literacy, such as CEVAS in England, with recommendations on how best to implement in the Welsh context
- Evaluation and impact framework for the programme, building upon existing learning from earlier school visits delivered by Fieldwork CIC and partner Food Partnerships and schools. The framework should support consistent monitoring throughout delivery.
- Consolidated and expanded case studies of foundational school visit projects, leading to development of evaluation and impact framework for the 2026-27 term.
- Toolkit for growers summarising learning shared throughout the mentoring programme to provide a clear, step-by-step guide/checklist to hosting school visits.
- Toolkit for schools summarising learning shared throughout Community of Practice.
- Final evaluation report summarising: programme outcomes, evidence of impact, key learning, barriers and enablers, and policy recommendations
Key evaluation themes
The evaluation should explore questions such as:
- What difference did repeated engagement with farms make for pupils?
- What enabled schools to embed food learning more effectively?
- How did participation affect growers’ confidence and readiness to host educational visits?
- What role did mentoring play?
- What changes occurred within participating schools for teachers, students, and their families?
- Which elements of the model created the greatest impact?
- What barriers remain?
- What infrastructure or policy changes would support wider implementation?
- How could this model be sustained and scaled across Wales?
How to apply
Please send through a brief proposal (max 2 pages) to foodpartnership@bridgend.gov.uk by 2 September 2026, including the following details:
- Contact details
- A brief proposal outlining how you meet the required skills and experience (please see assessment criteria below)
- A proposed timetable and allocation of time.
- A budget summary, detailing: who would be delivering the work, their day rate, how many days the funding would cover and any additional costs anticipated e.g. expenses, and the total (inclusive of VAT where applicable).
- A declaration of any potential conflicts of interest
All applications will be reviewed by our panel, and the successful applicant will be notified by 10 September.
Assessment Criteria:
Relevance and quality of proposed approach (35%)
- Clear understanding of the brief and context
- Feasibility and adaptability of the proposed methodology
- Appropriateness of proposed approach
- Realistic timeline
Experience and expertise (35%)
- Demonstration of required skills and experience.
Value for money (20%)
- Realistic budgeting and use of resources
- Clarity on day rates, roles, and any in-kind contributions
Engagement and collaboration approach (10%)
- Willingness to work adaptively with programme partners