COMMUNITY food projects across Warwickshire have been given a cash injection.
Warwickshire County Council has awarded more than £25,000 in funding to 27 community organisations to support local initiatives that improve access to healthy, affordable food.
Each group received up to £1,000 in April through the Kind Communities – Kind Food, which supports community-led projects making a real difference to residents’ wellbeing.
The programme was delivered in partnership with WCAVA (Warwickshire Community and Voluntary Action), who promoted and administered the application process.
These initiatives are part of Warwickshire’s wider efforts to tackle food insecurity and promote healthier diets through the Warwickshire Food Strategy 2023-2026, developed by the Warwickshire Food Forum in collaboration with WCC.
Over the past three years, the council has invested £70,000 to support nearly 70 community food projects across Warwickshire. Building on this success, plans are underway to accelerate progress through a new Warwickshire Food Plan, set to run until 2028.
WCC’s resources spokesperson Coun Mike Bannister said: “This fund is provided to help support and encourage local community food projects. Community groups do splendid work in promoting and providing healthy and affordable food locally. We recognise this and want to work with existing and new groups – this is an important part of our new plan going forward”.
Alison Thompson, area manager for CAVA, added: “We’re really pleased to have successfully delivered this round of grant funding, working with the county council on this programme again. Funding for community activities to support grassroots-led initiatives makes a huge difference to people’s lives, it encourages volunteering, builds resilience and community capacity and supports some of the most vulnerable in our neighbourhoods.”
