The Healthy Start Scheme is a means-tested NHS benefit for pregnant women and low-income families with children under 4. It provides access to good food: fruit, vegetables, milk and vitamins which are important to give children the best start in life.

In Liverpool only 65% of eligible pregnant women and parents/carers take up the scheme – meaning thousands of low income households are missing out on this vital support.

It is important we increase awareness of the scheme and support families to access this benefit.

 

Feeding Liverpool are offering free introductory training to The Healthy Start Scheme, with trainees becoming Healthy Start Community Champions, able to promote the scheme in their communities.

This training is aimed at people in Liverpool who support pregnant women and parents/carers with young children aged 0–4 years, including:

• Voluntary sector volunteers or staff members – including organisations that support families through the Holidays Activities and Food Programme

• Children centre staff, health-care related workers, and wellbeing professionals

It is suitable for people who have little or no knowledge of the Healthy Start scheme or would appreciate refresher training given the digitalisation changes in 2022.

 

Through the session you will learn:

• What is the Healthy Start Scheme

• Who is eligible for the scheme

• How the digitalisation of the scheme may impact those you support

• What being a Healthy Start Community Champion means for you

Healthy Start Community Champions will be provided with promotional materials to advertise the scheme within their organisation.

 

Online via Zoom: Thursday 27th April 10:00am to 11:00am.

This training will be led by Annette James from Feeding Liverpool.

Register to attend online here.

 

In-Person: Wednesday 3rd May 10am to 11:30am.

This training will be led by Annette James from Feeding Liverpool at St George’s Church, Heyworth Street, Everton, Liverpool L5 3QG.

Register to attend in-person here.

Those interested will only need to attend one of these sessions.

 

Please do share this training opportunity with anyone within your organisation or network who you think will benefit.

For more information, please contact Gentian on [email protected]

With grateful thanks to Merseyside Play Action Council and Alder Hey Children’s Hospital for funding this training.

Feeding Liverpool are inviting organisations in Liverpool providing emergency and community food support to join us at our next quarterly emergency food providers network gathering. We will bring together organisations to listen, learn, share and make connections, as we work towards creating a city where everyone can eat good food

You will hear from emergency food providers and learn about their organisations, their success and any challenges they are facing. There will be an opportunity to share your experiences, and ask questions too.

This session will be focusing on the topic of food supplies across the city, where there have been challenges and successes, and we will be facilitating an information sharing exercise on Good Food suppliers.

We would encourage each organisation providing emergency or community food support to send a representative to this session.

Refreshments will be provided. Please email [email protected] with any dietary requirements.

 

Who: Organisations providing emergency and community food in the City of Liverpool

When: 1:30pm to 3:30pm, Monday 27th March 2023

Where: Quaker Meeting House, 22 School Lane, Liverpool, L1 3BT

 

If you have any questions, please contact Jennifer Graham on [email protected].

 

Register to attend via Eventbrite here

We are inviting organisations in Liverpool providing emergency food support and community food support to join us at our next quarterly emergency food providers network gathering. The session will bring together organisations to listen, learn, share and make connections, as we work towards creating a city where everyone can eat good food.

At this session we will be joined by Lydia Hayes, Professor of Labour Rights, University of Liverpool and member of LATAN (Liverpool Access to Advice Network). Lydia will give a practical briefing on employment rights and in-work poverty, and how groups can best support those they serve.

You will also hear from three emergency food providers and learn about their organisations, their success and any challenges they are facing. There will be an opportunity to share your experiences, and ask questions too.

Increasingly, people using emergency food provision are in employment. Many working people have low levels of awareness of their rights at work. This, together with problems associated with insecure hours or irregular earnings and fear of being bullied by managers, means that people often don’t know how to realise the benefits of employment rights to which they are entitled.

Harsher welfare rules are expected early in 2023 that will require benefit claimants working up to 15 hours a week to increase their earnings. The cost of living crisis makes it essential that individual rights at work are realised.

The briefing will help you to open up conversations about in-work poverty, minimum employment standards, and find out how people can access help and support.

We would encourage each organisation providing emergency food support or community food support to send a representative to this session.

Lunch will be provided. Please email [email protected] with any dietary requirements.

Who: Organisations providing emergency food and community food in the City of Liverpool
When: 12pm to 2:30pm, Tuesday 17th January 2023
Where: Quaker Meeting House, 22 School Lane, Liverpool, L1 3BT

If you have any questions, please contact Jennifer Graham on [email protected].

Register to attend here

We are inviting organisations in Liverpool to join us for our latest Community Food Network Gathering; Community Cooking Conversations.

This session will bring together Good Food organisations to listen, learn, share and make connections with others, focusing on the theme of Community Cooking.

By community cooking we mean any project where groups meet to cook meals together or projects involving cooking meals for the community, this could look like cooking classes, community meals, a community kitchen, lunch clubs, or slow cooker projects for example.

The session will include a plant-based lunch, networking opportunities, a live cooking demonstration, and practical advice about how to setup and sustain your community cooking project from professionals in the field.

Speakers

• Chef Leigh Menzie from Kirkdale Community Kitchen
• Prof Bryce Evans from Liverpool Hope University talking about The Solidarity Model of Community Kitchens
• Dr Hayley Tait from Vinny’s Kitchen, Community Plant-based Cook School
• Keenan Humble from Alchemic Kitchen, a Feedback project

Who: Organisations in Liverpool wishing to setup a community cooking project, learn best practice for how to sustain their project, are running successful projects, or anyone interested in this topic.

When: 11:00am – 2:30pm, Tuesday 18th October 2022

Where:  Kirkdale Community Kitchen, 211 Walton Road, Liverpool, L4 4AJ

Register to attend on Eventbrite here.

For more information, please email Jennifer Graham, Feeding Liverpool’s Good Food Programme Network Coordinator on [email protected]

Calling all Liverpool-based emergency food providers!

We are inviting organisations in Liverpool providing emergency food support to join us for the first of our quarterly emergency food providers network gatherings. The session will bring together organisations providing emergency food support to listen, learn, share, and make connections with others working in this space.

It isn’t right that anyone in our city should be left hungry or live in poverty. Liverpool’s Good Food Plan identified the need for emergency food providers, people with experience of food insecurity, and organisations engaging with people at risk of food insecurity to work together to identify and work towards ways to prevent people from crisis points where they are unable to afford good food.

We also agreed that whilst we work towards long-term change, we must ensure that:

• People in crisis can access appropriate support quickly and easily.
• We are supporting people to access ‘Good Food’ at points of crisis.
• Holistic support is offered alongside emergency food provision so that we are tackling the root causes of food insecurity and eradicating people’s long-term reliance on emergency food provision.

At Feeding Liverpool we want to create spaces where organisations connect and share learning as we work together towards achieving the aims of Liverpool’s Good Food Plan.

At this Autumn session you will hear from three providers and learn about their organisations, their success and any challenges they are facing. There will also be an opportunity to share your experiences, ask questions, and discuss future projects.
Refreshments and pastries will be provided.

Who: Organisations providing emergency food in the City of Liverpool

When: 10am – 12pm, Wednesday 12^th October 2022

Where:  Paper Cup Coffee, St. Johns House 2 Queen Square, Liverpool L1 1RH

To book a place email: [email protected]

As part of the Good Food Plan’s A Healthy Start for Liverpool, we are delighted to be offering free training for children centre staff, public health workers, voluntary sector staff members, and wellbeing professionals.

This free online training is aimed at professionals who support pregnant women and parents/carers with young children aged 0–4 years.

Through the session you will learn:

• What is the Healthy Start Scheme
• Who is eligible
• How the digitalisation of the scheme will impact those you support
• What being a Healthy Start Community Champion means for you

We are encouraging work places to send up to two members of staff to attend this training event.

Online via Zoom:

Wednesday 2^nd November 10:00am to 11:00am.
This training will be led by Annette James from Feeding Liverpool. Register to attend online here.

Please do share this training opportunity with anyone within your organisation or network who you think will benefit.

For more information, please contact Colin Pryor on [email protected] or telephone 07835 947583

On Zoom
Wednesday 14 September

9:15am to 10:30am

An online presentation of review findings and recommendations on how we can improve awareness of the Healthy Start Scheme in Liverpool

The Healthy Start Scheme is a lifeline for many pregnant women and families with children under 4 in the city. It is a means-tested government benefit designed as a nutritional safety net to improve access to a healthy diet for low-income families.

Over 6,800 pregnant women and parents/carers are eligible for the scheme in Liverpool, getting support to purchase good food: fruit, vegetables, lentils, milk, and free vitamins, to ensure every child gets the best start in life.

Only approx. 60% of eligible pregnant women and parents/carers in Liverpool take up the scheme – meaning thousands of low income households are missing out on this vital support.

Over the last few months Feeding Liverpool have worked with parents, Children Centre staff, Public Health teams, midwives and health visitors to review the Healthy Start Scheme and develop a series of recommendations about how we could improve awareness and uptake of the scheme in Liverpool.

Please join us for an online presentation on Zoom of these findings and recommendations from Rachel Flood, who has led this piece of research.

This online event is particularly aimed at:

• Health Care Professionals including representatives from Public Health, midwives, GP’s, health visitors, and members of Primary Care Networks
• Children’s workforce staff, including children centre staff, and staff from the private childcare sector
• Voluntary sector staff and volunteers who engage with pregnant women or families with children under the age of 4

For more information on Healthy Start visit: www.healthystart.nhs.uk

If you have any questions, please contact Jennifer Graham, Good Food Programme Network Coordinator on [email protected]

Register to attend A Healthy Start for Liverpool on Eventbrite here.

The next meeting of the Good Food Community Advocacy and Policy Group will be on Wednesday 10th August 12:30pm to 3pm at the University of Liverpool.

This group is a fast, responsive, agile working group focused on translating what is happening on the ground into policy asks, developing Good Food Plan policy work and working on public facing responses to media and current situations.

The group will meet via a combination of face-to-face and online meetings four times per year, with tasks in between.

Please get in touch with co-chairs Beth Bradshaw ([email protected]) and Naomi Maynard ([email protected]) if you’d like to join this group and attend the next meeting.