LOCAL FOOD NOW ON THE FUNDING MENU
GRANTS AVAILABLE FOR LOCAL FOOD SCHEMES

Local Food, a new and exciting grants programme funded by the Big Lottery Fund, will be open for applications from 17 March 2008.
[Contact: the Changing Spaces Advice Line on
0845 3 671 671 or visit www.localfoodgrants.org]

The £50 million programme aimed at making locally grown food accessible and affordable to local communities has been developed by a consortium of organisations, and is managed on their behalf by the Royal Society of Wildlife Trusts (RSWT).

Local Food is the first Award Partner scheme funded by the Big Lottery Fund’s Changing Spaces programme to open its doors for applications, and will look to distribute grants to a variety of food-related community projects across England).

Mark Wheddon, Local Food Programme Manager said: “The Local Food programme provides a fantastic opportunity for a broad section of the public to gain access to local food and is perfectly timed to capitalise on the public’s enthusiasm for locally produced food and the environmental benefits which that brings.

“With such a broad and varied funding programme we would encourage people who are thinking of applying to be as creative as possible. From school farms and community box schemes, to local food education centres and community composting, the list is endless.”

Grants from £2,000 up to £500,000 will be awarded to not-for-profit groups and organisations in England delivering such projects as growing, processing, marketing and distributing local food; composting and raising awareness of the benefits of such activities.

Peter Wanless, Big Lottery Fund Chief Executive, said: “The Big Lottery Fund is proud to support this scheme, which will help improve access to locally grown food for communities right across England. With such public interest in healthy eating and protecting our environment, there has never been a better time for people to come forward and apply for money to help put their local food projects into action.”

To find out more, please call the Changing Spaces Advice Line on 0845 3 671 671 or visit www.localfoodgrants.org.

Special Announcement we are having problems with registration in the Exchange Area

If you need help with regard to CSA, please contact us (see below for details) or join our discussion forum:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/cultivatingcommunities/

Happy Announcement - New CSA and organic buying groups project starting Spring 08!

This website and associated documents were developed for the first Cultivating Communities project which ran from 2001-2004, so please note that information and addresses etc may now be out of date. However we are delighted to announce that we will be redeveloping the site during Autumn 07 in preparation for our new CSA project and work on organic buying groups that will begin fully in April 08.

Background to the new project:
The Soil Association is one of the partners in Making Local Food Work, a new £10 million partnership programme being led by the Plunkett Foundation . Over the next five years, Making Local Food Work – which is funded by the Big Lottery Fund – will create and support 650 local food sustainable community enterprises throughout England, including farmers' markets, community-owned shops and community-supported agriculture schemes. The programme aims to reconnect consumers with fresh, healthy and seasonal food, and to secure our local food heritage for generations to come. The Soil Association will receive £1 million for developing Community Supported Agriculture initiatives and organic buying groups.

How can we help you?
If you are interested in finding out more, or in setting up a CSA scheme or organic buying group, then support and expertise will be available to help you from Spring 2008. The new project aims to grow the CSA network through practical information, advice, support, training and networking. It will also support new organic buying groups by linking producers with consumer buying groups. In the meantime we hope that the information on this website will be a useful start.

Useful Soil Association publications:

• Cultivating Communities report (reconnecting food and farming). Free. To order, call 0117 914 2400, or email ff@soilassociation.org


• Cultivating Co-operatives - organisational structures for local food enterprises. £15 – order via our shop


• A Share in the Harvest - an action manual for community supported agriculture. To download, click on ‘Action Manual’ at the top on this page.


• A Share in the Harvest – a feasibility study for community supported agriculture. Available to download via our shop.

We are keen to hear about your interest and ideas. This will help us with our planning as we set up the new project, so please do contact us at ff@soilassociation.org and put ‘CSA/buying group enquiry’ in the subject line.

If you are planning to set up a new CSA or buying group, then you will be even more delighted to hear that there is new local food funding coming soon too!...

New local food funding
From January 2008, community groups in England involved in local food will have a chance to get their hands on a share of £50 million. Managed by the Royal Society of Wildlife Trusts (RSWT) and 15 consortium members, on behalf of the BIG Lottery Fund, Local Food is a £50 million programme that will distribute grants to a variety of food-related projects to help make locally grown food accessible and affordable to local communities. The Soil Association is a consortium member and has been significantly involved in securing this new funding for local food projects.

Communities will benefit from improved health and well-being through exercise and better nutrition; strengthened local economies through the creation of social enterprises; and more sustainability through the better use of resources such as food redistribution and composting.

Local Food has five themes:
1. Enable communities to manage land sustainably for growing food locally.
2. Enable communities to build knowledge and understanding and to celebrate the cultural diversity of food.
3. Stimulate local economic activity and the development of community enterprises concerned with growing, processing and marketing local food.
4. Create opportunities for learning and the development of skills through voluntary training and job creation.
5. Promote awareness and understanding of the links between food and healthy lifestyles.

There are three levels of grant varying from £2,000 to £500,000. The fund will be open to applications in January 2008. See www.localfoodgrants.org for regular updates.

The Cultivating Communities website is a resource for all community-based local food initiatives. It is intended as a networking tool and we encourage you to contribute your experience and information.

There are three main areas:

• CSA Action manual: A dynamic document and repository of a wealth of information and sign-posting to assist in the development of community food initiatives.
• Exchange area: Contains the latest news, events, useful documents, classifieds and an e-mail discussion forum where you help and seek help from others.
• Regional pages: Details of your nearest CSA and organisations that can provide advice or funding in your area.

If you have any questions about CSAs in England, please contact:
Food and Farming Dept, Soil Association, South Plaza, Marlborough Street, Bristol BS1 3NX
T: 0117 914 2424
E: adaniel@soilassociation.org

If you have any questions about CSAs in Northern England please contact:
Michael Marston, Local Food Links Officer, 21-23 Beech Grove Blackhall Mill, Newcastle Upon Tyne NE17 7TD
T: 01207 562317
F: 01207 561317
E: mmarston@soilassociation.org

For enquiries about CSAs in Scotland, contact:
Soil Association Scotland, 18 Liberton Brae, Tower Mains Edinburgh EH16 6AE
T: 0131 666 2474
E: contact@sascotland.org

You may also be interested to find out about our affiliated local groups. To find out more about the Soil Association local group network, see www.soilassociation.org/localgroups

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