Shropshire Council awarded £300,000 grant to tackle food insecurity
A council has been awarded £300,000 over the next three years to tackle food insecurity in south west Shropshire.
A project group formed of Shropshire Council public health, Healthwatch Shropshire, Citizens Advice Shropshire and the Shropshire Food Poverty Alliance secured an initial grant of £20,000 to enable in-depth research around the reasons for local food insecurity.
A key element of the research was talking to individuals and families who had experience of living without access to affordable, nutritious food.
The full report will be available on the Healthwatch Shropshire website soon.
Following the submission of a detailed plan, Shropshire was one of the final five council areas selected to receive grant funding.
Simon Jones, Shropshire Council’s cabinet member for adult social care and public health, said: “The research carried out by the project group has been thorough, and demonstrated to the Local Government Association (LGA) and Health Foundation that the plan to tackle food insecurity in south west Shropshire is worthy of investment.
"Rural areas are not always perceived as places of need, so I am so pleased that this funding can be used to help our south west community and bring benefits to the whole of Shropshire.”
Berni Lee, consultant in public health and project group lead, said: “The work of the group to secure this funding has been amazing, and we want to thank all those who gave their time to participate in the research process.
"Food insecurity affects people’s lives in so many ways, including physically through hunger, and mentally through the stress of not being able to afford to feed themselves and/or their family.
"We are looking forward to taking this work forward and making a difference to people’s lives.”
