Agenda item

Approval was sought from the Cabinet Member for the allocation of grant funding to Rural Action Derbyshire to manage and lead the work of the Feeding Derbyshire Alliance and the Financial Action and Advice Derbyshire Partnership and their associated work programmes to a value of £50,000 per annum for a two year period from April 2021 to March 2023.

          Public Health’s involvement in finding sustainable solutions to alleviate food poverty in Derbyshire was centred around the work of the Feeding Derbyshire alliance.  This had been operational since September 2015 and was one of the 12 official pilots of the Feeding Britain strategy. Rural Action Derbyshire were commissioned by Public Health to co-ordinate the Feeding Derbyshire programme and supported the work of foodbanks and community pantries, community cafes, community kitchens, school holiday clubs, and breakfast and after-school clubs across Derbyshire, as well as being responsible for working strategically to alleviate food poverty. Placement of the co-ordinating function of this work allowed additional funding to be accessed not available to the Council.

          Feeding Derbyshire sought to help those struggling with low incomes, debt, poor access to affordable, nutritious food and reduced the negative impact of hunger by working to ensure projects were inclusive and reached the most vulnerable.  This gave families and individuals the confidence and capacity to be self-reliant and be able to meet their own and their children’s needs.  Rural Action Derbyshire co-ordinated a network of 34 foodbanks operating across 41 locations.

          In response to Covid-19, Rural Action Derbyshire also set-up a batch cook-delivery scheme involving 12 projects providing ready meals.  This scheme was providing a much-needed service to vulnerable people whilst they were shielding or self -isolating.  By the end of October, the Batch-Cook Scheme Projects had produced and distributed over 55,000 meals.  During the first two months of the Spring Lockdown, Derbyshire food projects doubled the amount of food provided to local people. The Feeding Derbyshire Network of Food Banks and Social Eating Projects were currently supporting more than 3,000 of the most vulnerable people in the county.

          As part of their Feeding Derbyshire coordination role, Rural Action Derbyshire also lead liaison with Fareshare East Midlands to ensure that food supply met demand from community programmes in Derbyshire and saw the food weight they supply to Derbyshire projects increase from an average of 41,000kgs per month to over 81,000kgs in April and May 2020.  Financial Action and Advice Derbyshire (FAAD) was a partnership of over 50 organisations from the Public, Voluntary and Community sectors and was established in 2013 and hosted by Rural Action Derbyshire, with funding provided by Derbyshire County Council.

          There was significant crossover of two agenda areas, so funding one organisation to oversee both partnership agendas offered significant opportunity to align and link work and offered the best long-term opportunity to make a meaningful difference to alleviating food poverty across Derbyshire and improve the health and wellbeing of the local population.

                    RESOLVED - that the Cabinet Member approve the allocation of £50,000 per annum, for a two year period, from April 2021 to March 2023, to Rural Action Derbyshire, to continue to lead and manage the Feeding Derbyshire Partnership and the Financial Action and Advice Derbyshire (FAAD) Partnership and their associated work programmes.