Food Poverty Grant 2019

Merthyr Tydfil voluntary and community organisations supporting local community projects tackling food poverty and food insecurity have until January 13 to apply for funding from the Food Poverty Grant.

The purpose of the funding is as set out in the Tackling Food Poverty and Addressing Food Insecurity EU Transition Funding Bid and is to enable local authorities to:

• Support an increased number of people facing food poverty by extending existing food bank provision across each authority.
• Award grants for Revenue and/or Capital costs.
• Award grants of a minimum £1,000 / maximum £5,000 (provisional). However, exceptional business cases above the maximum amount will be considered
• The capital funding should support organisations to access, store and distribute additional supplies of good quality food, including good food surplus, in particular, larger amounts of fresh food, boosting the capacity of organisations to provide good quality, nutritious food to their customers.  It can be used in a variety of ways to suit the requirements of the organisation, for example but not limited to: purchasing fridges, freezers and cooking equipment. This grant may also be used to cover the costs of the cooking process.

The revenue funding can be used in a variety of ways to suit the requirements of the organisation. These might include funding and working with voluntary organisations, community groups and housing associations please see appendices for examples of eligible projects that can be developed.  It can be used to, for example, provide specialist support for taking forward initiatives such as outreach work and to build community resilience through cluster work and the development of food bank hubs which bring together a range of support services.

All applications submitted for the Food Poverty Grant must support the aim of tackling food poverty and food insecurity. The project must benefit the residents of the County Borough of Merthyr Tydfil and meet one or more of the themes within Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council’s own measurements and objectives for the use of the grant:

The Council’s ‘Vision for Merthyr Tydfil’:

•People in Merthyr Tydfil have the opportunity and aspiration to learn and develop their skills to maximise their potential
•People who live and work in Merthyr Tydfil are supported to enjoy a healthier and better quality of life
•People visit, enjoy and return
• The Council’s ‘Merthyr Tydfil Well-being Objectives’:

Best Start to Life
•Children and young people get the best start to life and are equipped with the skills they need to be successful learners and confident individuals.

Working Life
•People feel supported to develop the skills required to meet the needs of businesses with a developing, safe infrastructure making Merthyr Tydfil an attractive destination.
•Environmental Well-being
•Communities protect, enhance and promote our environment and countryside.

Living Well
•People are empowered to live independently within their communities, where they feel safe and enjoy good physical and mental health.

The purpose of this grant relates to the improvement of Food Poverty services such as:
• Increasing the level of support available, and improving the level of coverage across the county borough
• Extending opening hours to include some evenings and weekends
• Improving the nutritional value of provisions being provided
• Educating the community on the importance of good nutrition, healthy eating and reducing wastage
• Establishing sustainable provision to meet the anticipated increase in demand

To be able to access this grant, it will be required that you will deliver a high quality support service aimed at reducing the effect of food poverty across Merthyr Tydfil. In return for the funding, we would like to initiate positive developments such as:

1. An increase in the number of individuals supported by you:
a. How many families have been supported?
b. How many single people?
c. How many homeless people have been supported?

2. An increase in the volume of nutritional food being provided by these services
a. Specific focus on perishable goods that may not have been provided previously

3. An increase of awareness and education levels regarding healthy food, nutrition and decreasing food waste

Applications MUST be submitted with any relevant organisational policies such as Health & Safety (e.g. food health certificates), financial statement (subject to status of the entity), Constitution or set of rules signed. Please refer to the checklist at the end of the application form for further information.

Examples of eligible projects
• Schemes to help people grow their own produce
• Budgeting workshops
• Cooking workshops
• Healthy and nutritious food workshops / guidance [Eatwell Guide]

THIS FUNDING HAS BEEN ALLOCATED FOR THE FINANCIAL YEAR 2019/20 WITH NO FURTHER GUARANTEE THAT IT WILL CONTINUE IN THE FUTURE.

DEADLINE FOR APPLICATIONS:
Monday 13th January 2020

HOW ARE SUCCESSFUL APPLICATIONS FOR THE FOOD POVERTY GRANT MONITORED?

Team will undertake monitoring visits during the course of the project. These monitoring visits will be undertaken during the project length, both half way through and at the completion date depending on each individual project.

Applicants will be expected to complete a monitoring form once the project is completed, and to submit copies of invoices, receipts etc. to support the expenditure of the grant.

We are required to submit information to the Welsh Local Government Association who will then send a report to Welsh Government by 31st January 2020 confirming details of the resource allocated to each authority and the activity each authority anticipates using it for, and any spend achieved to date (and on what), that meets the purposes.

An initial and then follow up report in April and October 2020 including the below information:
1. What each Local Authority have spent and what they have spent it on (split capital / revenue),
2. How many people they have supported
3. Details of any collaboration with other Authorities

PLEASE SEND APPLICATIONS TO:
DAVID SMITH
MERTHYR TYDFIL COUNTY BOROUGH COUNCIL
CIVIC CENTRE
CASTLE STREET
MERTHYR TYDFILL
CF47 8AN
DAVID.SMITH@MERTHYR.GOV.UK

An application form is available here.