• Fulfill all the criteria on the ‘eligibility criteria’ page of the survey below
• Complete the survey in full
• Agree to provide monitoring data on how this resource has been spent.

To enable Feeding Liverpool to make a fair allocation of funds, during this survey you will be asked how many people you provided regular food support for during the week Monday 14th November – Sunday 20th November. If for any reason this week did not represent a typical week for your organisation in terms of the regular food support you offer (e.g., you had to close your foodbank that week due to staff sickness or your community meal only occurs once a month), please leave a comment in the appropriate box to indicate this and get in touch if you have a question.

You will also be asked which age category the people you provided regular food support to fall into (0 – 17, 18 – 64 and 65+). Please have this information on hand when completing this survey.

You will have the opportunity to provide details about any of the following types of regular food support your organisation provides:

• Emergency food parcels
• Community food spaces (e.g. food pantries, food union, community market, community shop)
• Community meals / meals which are included as part of an activity your organisation offers
• Any other regular food support your organisation offers

Complete survey here

The award winning steakhouse and cocktail bar group, Hawksmoor has announced a new charitable partnership with Feeding Liverpool.

Hawksmoor’s work with international, national and local charity partners runs alongside and underpins their ethical and sustainable business model. Hawksmoor is extremely proud to be a certified B Corp and part of their ethos is to support local and global communities in line with their goals to feed people well and to grow with integrity.

International partners include Action Against Hunger and the One Water Foundation to provide basic human needs and rights. Hawksmoor’s national partners include Magic Breakfast, providing meals for children; Kelly’s Cause offering mental health first aid training to the hospitality industry; and Hospitality Action giving vital assistance to people working in their sector.

Hawksmoor also works closely with a number of charitable initiatives to provide support to causes that transform lives in the cities in which their restaurants are located. In London they work with City Harvest and Chefs in Schools; in Manchester their partners include Eat Well Manchester and Wood Street Mission; and their charity partner in Edinburgh is Cyrenians.

Will Beckett, Co-Founder and CEO, Hawksmoor says:

We’re really happy to be supporting Feeding Liverpool, not just because they think the same way we do about food poverty, communities and the shameful reality that so many people still rely on food banks in modern Britain, but because they are great at what they do and they represent the best of Liverpool, a community that looks after its own as well as anywhere in the world.

Hawksmoor has pledged a £10,000 initial contribution to Feeding Liverpool and will follow this initial donation with ongoing support with a portion of dessert and cocktail sales going to the charity, and additional fundraising through dedicated campaigns and special events.

Dr Naomi Maynard, Good Food Programme Director, Feeding Liverpool, says:

We are delighted to be named as Hawksmoor’s charity partner in Liverpool, who share our passion for good food. We look forward to developing a mutual partnership as we listen and learn from the Hawksmoor team and welcome them into Feeding Liverpool’s network. Hawksmoor’s support has come at a vital time, as many in our city are facing a difficult winter. This partnership will enable Feeding Liverpool to continue to develop and support projects working to tackle food insecurity and improve access to good food in the city.

Hawksmoor Liverpool is situated in the iconic, Grade II-listed India Buildings, which sits just off Castle Street on the corner of Brunswick Street and Fenwick Street, and boasts a 150 cover restaurant, private dining space and a bar to be enjoyed by both diners or those simply looking for a spot to enjoy a drink.

A mobile greengrocers’ delivering fresh fruit and veg to ‘food deserts’ and communities hit by food insecurity across Liverpool and Knowsley has been launched.

The new Queen of Greens bus-shop is a pioneering initiative to boost access to healthy food and help tackle health inequalities.

It visits 29 stops each week including schools, health and community centres including Fazakerley hospital, providing people with better opportunities to shop for nutritious food closer to their home or workplace.

The route takes in neighbourhoods classed as ‘food deserts’, including areas of Everton and Kirkby, where residents have to travel more than a kilometre or walk 15 minutes to reach a supermarket selling ‘green’ produce.

Launched as families face huge financial challenges this autumn and winter amid the cost-of-living crisis, the bus also visits communities hard hit by food insecurity, and where barriers to food access have been identified following community consultation.

Customers can pay for their shopping with Alexandra Rose vouchers, and Healthy Start vouchers for pregnant women and young families at all stops, as well as cash or card.

The project is thanks to a unique partnership between charities Feeding Liverpool, which is leading the city’s Good Food Plan strategy to create a city where ‘everyone can eat good food’, and Feedback Global’s project Alchemic Kitchen, with funding from Feeding Britain.

The partners worked with Liverpool City Council, local NHS providers, NHS estate consultants gbpartnerships, Liverpool and Sefton Health Partnership, Community Health Partnerships, Knowsley social housing provider Livv Housing Group, and the Alexandra Rose charity, to ensure the route reaches a wide community audience.

The aim is to help reduce health inequalities and improve nutrition and life chances, by making it easier for people to access healthy food close to their homes and workplaces, and it is hoped more stops may be added in future.

Only 1 in 2 adults in Liverpool eat their five recommended fruits and vegetables each day, only 12% of children aged 11-18 eat their five-a-day, and it is estimated a third of adults in Liverpool are food insecure – where food is a source of worry, frustration, and stress.

Both Everton and Kirkby are among the ten most economically deprived food deserts in England, and most of Knowsley (77% of the borough) is currently classed as a food desert.

The shop runs Monday to Friday and also includes stops in Anfield, Walton, Fazakerley, Kensington, Edge Hill, Belle Vale, Toxteth, Kensington, Wavertree, West Derby, Picton, Aigburth, Speke, Garston, Halewood, Aintree, Knotty Ash, Huyton, and Prescot.

The project partners funded the purchase and refurbishment of the former 24-seater Iveco coach, transforming it into a fully kitted out shop.

The exterior is decorated with a fresh fruit-inspired artwork by schoolgirl Leema Alzu’bi aged ten, from Toxteth, who won a competition run by the partners to have her artwork turned into the logo, by Liverpool design agency NonConform.

The bus is operated day-to-day by greengrocer Paul Flannery from Dingle, who has run the ‘Red Apple’ bus as an independent local business for the last ten years, giving him an insight into growing needs serving local communities, particularly through the pandemic.

The project is enabling Paul to expand his business and route, retiring the Red Apple bus and leasing the new Queen of Greens bus from Feedback Global for a peppercorn rent. His new route visits more stops, strategically designated to reach more people, and meet the project goals.

The bus also carries recipe cards with ideas for healthy meals people can make on a budget, and Paul encourages shoppers to buy in amounts they can afford; and even try a taste of unfamiliar produce before they buy.

Everyone is encouraged to shop on the new Queen of Greens bus regardless of income, to help champion better local food provision and support the venture as a viable business long term, with the potential to expand in future.

Similarly, to a traditional greengrocers’, the Queen of Greens bus prioritises stocking local and seasonal produce where possible including produce from farms in Lancashire and Cheshire, with a focus on quality and choice.

The bus will also help reduce the environmental impact of people’s weekly shop by reducing the need for shoppers to travel, reducing packaging, and selling food in small amounts so people buy only what they need and can afford.

Dr Naomi Maynard, Programme Director for Liverpool’s Good Food Plan and Feeding Liverpool said:

One in three adults in Liverpool is food insecure, meaning food is a source of worry, frustration and stress; this situation is only set to worsen as food and fuel prices escalate.

One of the contributing factors to poor nutrition and unhealthy diets is that access to good food is limited in some parts of the city, with some neighbourhoods classed as ‘food deserts’ much worse affected than others, while in Knowsley three-quarters of the borough is a food desert.

It means people end up relying on food that is more readily available close to their home or work, and often that is not the best option for both their finances or their long-term health or the health of their growing children.

The Queen of Greens bus is part of a long-term solution to helping reduce health inequalities and improve nutrition and life chances, by making it easier for people to access healthy food in their communities whilst supporting sustainable local businesses.

The stops have been chosen to target some of the city region’s food deserts where access to good food is particularly poor, and have been developed in consultation with local health and community partners.

This is not designed to be an emergency provision – we still need urgent action to support people’s incomes amid the cost-of living crisis, however we are pleased to have been able to facilitate for the bus to accept Healthy Start cards, and Alexander Rose vouchers at selected stops, helping to reach low-income families who are experiencing particularly tough challenges right now.

Professor Matt Ashton, Director of Public Health for Liverpool City Council and lead DPH for the north west’s Food Active healthy weight programme, said:

The Queen of Greens project is a fantastically creative and collaborative approach to helping tackle one of the most pressing challenges facing our communities today, and Liverpool City Council is delighted to be supporting it, as part of the Liverpool Good Food Plan, working to create a city where everybody can eat good food.

Providing a more accessible supply of fresh groceries closer to people’s homes is a vital step on the way to helping tackle health inequalities, and improving nutrition and wellbeing for local children and adults.

Lucy Antal, North West project manager for Feedback Global’s Regional Food Economy and Lead for Food Justice, said:

Food justice means equal opportunities to access fresh food no matter your income or location.

We’re all about making food systems fairer for people and planet, and at the moment they are not, with nine retailers currently holding 96% of the UK food market share.

We are interested in how we can help people access fresh food so they have choice, and opportunity for nutritious food that doesn’t impact other people or the planet.

So fair wages, food that’s in season, locally available and supports people. It’s about trying to re-localise food supplies on a more human scale.

Lucy, winner of the BBC’s Food and Farming Awards Community Food Champion 2021, added:

For some families, poor access to fresh food creates a reliance on processed food and what’s available in their immediate area, and part of that is to do with time as well as income.

If you don’t eat well you won’t learn well, if it you don’t learn well you won’t earn well. If you don’t get the vitamins and minerals you need your brain and body won’t develop properly, you’re hungry in class, you don’t get the grades, you don’t have the jobs.

This about offering an opportunity to households in places where at the moment they may struggle to purchase fresh food locally.

Keenan Humble, Development Manager for Feedback Global’s Regional Food Economies North Programme which carried out community consultations to help map the route, said:

The Queen of Greens bus enables people to have better choice, to eat a more nutritionally balanced diet, and also to experiment.

Paul will sell people the quantity they need so you don’t need to buy a whole sack of something if you don’t know if your family will like it. So it gives choice and helps empower people in their own diets.

In supermarkets when they do five fruits for 20p that’s a loss leader, we can’t compete with that price and we are not trying to, but we are competing where people would have to travel bus taxi or car. We are trying to keep things at market stall prices and the focus is on accessibility and quality.

It’s also about community and bringing people together in places where they can talk about food, the bus has a real social atmosphere with people are chatting to each other, and that’s also really important for people to have a place to mingle.

Paul Flannery driver of the Queen of Greens bus, said:

I’ve been a greengrocer all my life and I’ve got to know communities all over the city and I know what different people in different communities like to eat and what they need.

This is a brilliant opportunity for us to reach more people with fresh fruit and veg. People don’t want to have to travel far to do their shopping and often they can’t because of work, or childcare, or they can’t afford it.

This means we can meet more people close to where they live and work. The bus has got a real sense of community about it, we really found that in the pandemic, people loved coming out and having a chat, it gives them a lift in the day, and that’s good for their mental health too.

People like trying the different produce. Sometimes if they’ve never had something, like a kiwi I can give them a taste before they buy it.

Or if they can’t afford a big bag of something I can sell them a small amount, not like in a supermarket where you might have to buy a whole pack, but they might not be able to afford it that week, so I can sell them a little bit.

Schoolgirl Leema Alzu’bi aged ten, from Toxteth, who won a competition to have her artwork turned into the Queen of Greens bus logo, entered as a participant in a Holiday Activities and Food (HAF) programme at the Al Ghazali community centre on Earle Road last summer.

Leema said:

The bus will be taking fruit and vegetables to people who can’t get it close to their home. I feel very happy and very proud that my drawing will go to help something good.

Andy Muir, Northwest Regional Director for Community Health Partnerships and LSHP (Liverpool and Sefton Health Partnership) Director said:

The Queen of Greens bus will travel to twelve health and wellbeing centres around Liverpool and Knowsley, selling affordable fresh fruit and vegetables to the patient’s and healthcare workers within the centres – which are often located in areas where it is difficult to access good quality, cost effective fresh produce.

With the cost-of-living crisis across the country, healthy foods have become lot more expensive than junk food, so for families on a budget buying unhealthy food seems the better option to save money.

The Queen of Greens project will go some way towards helping families all over Liverpool and Knowsley live a healthier lifestyle in an affordable way.

I’m really excited about this valuable service expanding to serve the patients and staff who attend and work out of Liverpool and Sefton Health Partnership’s LIFT (Local Improvement Finance Trust) buildings.

Never has this been more needed and the project will help a lot of people within vulnerable communities in staying healthy and fighting the obesity epidemic by selling affordable and healthy fresh fruit and veg every day.

Amanda Newton, Executive Director of Customer Insight at Livv Housing Group, said:

Livv is a housing provider, but we also play a key role in supporting the people who live in our homes with the challenges that they face in life beyond the home.

We’re constantly engaging with our customers to get their feedback and unsurprisingly, one of the issues that’s troubling people recently is the rising costs of food.

We’re working closely with Feeding Liverpool to focus on how access to good quality and nutritious food is one of the foundations of good health and wellbeing.

We’re thrilled to be able to bring the Queen of Greens to our customers’ doorsteps.

Providing them with access to fresh and affordable ingredients each week, all year round, is going to make a massive difference to the people and families that live in our communities. It’s easy, convenient and also minimises waste as they’re buying the exact amount that they need.

The uptake from our customers since the launch of the service has been brilliant to see and we’ve heard from so many of them already about how much they’re enjoying it.

We’re working on with Alchemic Kitchen and Feeding Liverpool as part of our Food in the Community programme and Queen of Greens is just one example of the work being delivered on the ground. We’re looking forward to continuing to work together to address the challenges that are faced in our communities as part of our community investment programmes.

The project partners say if successful, they would like to grow a fleet of Queen of Greens buses, to help refocus the local food economy towards a more ‘people and planet centred’ approach, and away from reliance on big supermarkets.

Lucy Antal added:

We need to see long haul system change.

If we can encourage people to eat more fruit and veg because they have access to it, then we can encourage farmers to produce more locally, we can ensure the demand is there to enable farmers and growers to look more at the local market.

The bus will prioritise local supply where possible, and also a focus on seasonal produce. It is very similar to a traditional greengrocers or the mobile food services one many of us remember from childhood. We are looking to the past to create a better future.”

The message to everyone is to use this, use your spending power to support it, so we can build a fleet of mobile market stalls!

View a map and timetable of the Queen of Greens stops at www.feedingliverpool.org/queenofgreens

For many organisations ‘monitoring’ is a scary word. We have designed some simple tools which I hope can help take some of this stress away, enabling you to focus on what you do best. Knowing how many people you support, who they are and what your food activities means to those who attend can enable you to communicate clearly with funders about the difference your work is making

Dr Naomi Maynard

Food activity monitoring tools

The food activity monitoring tools are designed to be completed each week by a volunteer or a member of staff immediately after your session. They provide space for you to capture the number of people you have supported and their age groups as well as note any feedback or reflections you or your team have after the session.

We have provided them in two formats: a set of one-page paper versions for each type of food activity, and an excel spreadsheet which encapsulates all four types of food activity.  Use the method that bests suits your organisation.

1. For emergency food parcels
2. For community food spaces, including food pantries, food clubs, food unions, social supermarkets, community shops and community markets
3. For community meals, including food provided alongside activities, and for community cafes
4. For other food support activities or one-off activities

The following spreadsheet contains a separate tab to record for each type of food activity. Please download and save your own version of this spreadsheet:

Excel spreadsheet

There may be other details about who you support which you’d like to capture (e.g. gender, ethnicity) or about the activities you run, do get in touch with Dr Naomi Maynard ([email protected]) if you need support to adapt this form to include this.

We will be adding further tools to support with storytelling later in 2022.

Monitoring tools support drop-in sessions

• 11^th October 3:30pm-5pm Feeding Liverpool Office 16 Lady Chapel Close, L1 7BZ
• 13^th October 9am–10:30am St George’s Church, Everton, L5 3QG

These drop-in support sessions are particularly relevant if your organisation received an allocation from Feeding Liverpool for the Household Support Fund

We will run a storytelling support session in November/early December.

Unfortunately our train the trainer sessions are currently fully booked.

To join the waiting list for future sessions please email Colin Pryor on [email protected] 

Feeding Liverpool, Alchemic Kitchen and chef Adam Franklin are partnering to launch the Fed-Up Slow Cooker Training Programme, teaching practical, communal cooking courses that bring together and equip community members to make delicious, nutritious, low-maintenance meals on a budget, in a friendly atmosphere to help combat loneliness and social isolation. 

We are looking to support and equip up to 20 people to become community Fed-Up slow cooker trainers, supporting them to host slow cooking courses in their local communities this Winter.

Slow cookers are simple to use and typically use over 60% less energy than ovens.

The Fed-Up course, led by chef Adam Franklin, started in 2014 as a course designed to help supplement foodbank parcels to maximise the amount of meals that could be prepared by adding fresh food, a slow cooker and the training to effect change. It has developed into a network of people from community settings connected together to use their new practical skills, support each other and connected into other community projects.

Our half day train the trainer courses

We are offering half day train-the-trainer sessions on Tuesday 4^th October and Monday 10^th October, with new trainers required to attend one of the two sessions on offer. These will be led by Adam at the Horse and Jockey, an award-winning community pub in Melling.

Free transportation is available from Feeding Liverpool’s offices (outside Liverpool Cathedral) to and from Melling.

Course timings:

• 9:20am pick up from Feeding Liverpool offices at Liverpool Cathedral to the Horse and Jockey, Melling
• 10:00am – 2.30pm Fed-Up Slow Cooker train-the-trainer Course
• approx 3:10pm return to Feeding Liverpool offices at Liverpool Cathedral

Refreshments including a light breakfast on arrival and lunch will be provided.

After the course, the new trainers will receive on-going support including:

• Training resources to deliver your course
• 10 recipe packs to handout to your course participants
• Up to 10 slow cookers for your course participants
• Ongoing communication with Feeding Liverpool, Alchemic Kitchen, and chef Adam Franklin to support the establishment of your courses

Who should get involved?

We are looking for friendly, enthusiastic people who are already involved in their local communities. This could be through volunteering or being an active member of a community group or community food space or through working in an organisation who connects with communities in Liverpool.

No previous cooking experience is required, just a passion to share what you learn with others and a willingness to lead a community cooking course after completing the training.

On completion of attending Fed-Up Slow Cooker Trainer Course, a commitment is required to disseminate information and share experience through practical cooking demonstrations in your own community establishment.

How do I get involved?

To get involved please express your interest using the form below. If all the questions on the form are completed, we will then use a first-come-first-served basis to select participants.

Unfortunately, we anticipate interest may exceed the number of places available, in which case we will create a waiting list for any future train-the-trainer courses.

Due to our funding requirements, participants will need to be primarily based in and willing to deliver courses within the Liverpool City Council geographical area. Participants who would like to deliver courses both within Liverpool and the wider City Region are encouraged to register their interest and note this on the form.

Complete form here

Everyone should be able to afford the essentials.

People at food banks need support every day, not just during national crises.

Food bank staff and volunteers are in our communities, helping people who are struggling to make ends meet.

While food banks are there to help people when they need it most, charities cannot, and should not, be our long-term solution to hunger. If people are to have enough money to live with dignity, we need a strong social security system that lifts us out of hardship rather than plunging us deeper into poverty.

Trussell Trust’s new campaign wants you to take action by asking your MP to call for a stronger social security system.

Last week, Liverpool foodbanks took action by inviting service users to fill in postcards to send to parliament, calling for change.

At Feeding Liverpool, we asked Liverpool MPs and the Mayor of Liverpool to join us in calling for a stronger social security system. This needs to be a top priority for our new Prime Minister, Liz Truss.

Joanne Anderson, Mayor of Liverpool says:

“As Mayor of Liverpool I am deeply concerned about the detrimental impact the cost of living crisis is having on the people of this city. The spiralling cost of living is hitting harder every day, people don’t have the money to afford life’s essentials and to live with dignity.

With no signs of slowing down, I urge the government to act now and invest in our social security system to protect people from debt and destitution, reduce the burden of benefit deductions to ease pressures both now and in the long-term, and commit that the benefit rates in our social security system will always be enough to protect people from destitution. We need this not just in a national crisis, but every day. “

Dan Carden MP for Liverpool Walton says:

“Every day I speak with constituents being pushed to the brink by a perfect storm of financial pressures. Low wages and welfare cuts, combined with soaring rent, food and energy costs, are plunging more and more people into destitution.  Enough is enough. We need a social security system worthy of the name, which supports and enables those who are struggling instead of punishing them.”

Kim Johnson MP for Liverpool Riverside says:

“Inflation, energy costs and food costs are rising to levels that will push over 50% of the population into fuel poverty, leaving many families having to choose between eating and heating.   All while shareholders and bosses post record profits: a political choice by this Government.  The hardest hit will be those on benefits and pensioners and the one-off £650 payment over six months won’t touch the sides.  I want to see a rise in benefits that matches the inflation rate, an end to sanctions and a rethink of a system that needs to be the safety net it was originally designed to be.”

Maria Eagle MP for Garston and Halewood says:

“The cost of living crisis and rising energy costs have been disastrous for many of my constituents who are struggling to pay bills, put food on the table and heat their homes. The energy cap rise alone will be catastrophic. Many constituents simply do not have enough money to live on and when people have to turn to food banks to feed their families they now find them struggling to cope with demand as people cannot afford to make donations anymore. I support the Trussell Trust’s Cost of Living Campaign to ensure people have support every day to afford essentials necessary just to get by.”

If you agree everyone should be able to afford life’s essentials, join Trussell Trust in calling for a stronger social security system that provides security every day, not just in times of national crisis.

Share a message with your MP that urges them to go further to help people on the lowest incomes in their community.

Feeding Liverpool have been asked to support Liverpool City Council’s distribution of the Household Support Fund to support people age 65 and over during the cost of living crisis. To be eligible to receive an allocation of this funding you must complete the survey below by the deadline of 5pm on Monday 5th September 2022

Liverpool’s network of emergency food providers and community food spaces support thousands of households experiencing food insecurity. This includes households with people aged 65 and over, whose access to good food has been affected due to the cost of living crisis.

A proportion of the Household Support Fund will therefore be allocated to emergency food providers and community food spaces. This funding is to be spent on food stock for their organisation and used within their existing services that support this age group.

To receive a proportion of this allocation, emergency food providers and community food spaces must (i) fulfill all the eligibility criteria below, (ii) complete the following survey in full and (iii) agree to provide monitoring data on how this resource has been spent. The full terms will be set out in a partnership agreement with Feeding Liverpool.

To be eligible to receive a proportion of the Household Support Fund your organisation must be:

• Directly providing food support for households which include people of aged 65 and over
• Running either :
  • Regular, emergency food provision (e.g. a weekly foodbank or emergency meal provision)
  • A community food space which distributes or serves food and usually relies on public donations or funding to provide food (e.g. a food pantry, community market, food union, community shop, regular community meal provider)
• A registered Charity, Charitable Incorporated Organisation, Community Interest Company or have charitable aims as part of your governing document, and meet the governance conditions stated on the survey
• Operating within Liverpool city council boundary

Unfortunately, without exception, any organisation whose survey response is received after the deadline of 5pm on Monday 5th September 2022 will not be eligible to participate.

Complete the survey