In Lambeth, parents can buy fruit, vegetables and store cupboard staples in specially designated ‘pantries’ in community and children’s centres for a nominal sum. The initiative comes from a health and wellbeing-focused charity called Healthy Living Platform, which aims to promote affordable healthy food in children’s centre communities. It also aims to provide training and leadership opportunities for parents, who volunteer at the pantries and are part of collaborative-working groups for their closest children’s centres.
Julia Escobar is mum to Benjamin and volunteers at the pantry. She said: ‘It feels good to do something nice for others. I feel useful. I’m doing something different from being a mother, or wife.’
Healthy Living Platform (HLP) has now received £10,000 to develop three new ‘pantries’ under the Lambeth Early Action Partnership (LEAP). The pantries run on a membership model. Parents pay £5 to attend each week and can then choose up to 20 items of fresh fruit and veg, store-cupboard items and other essentials. The £5 contribution goes directly back into bulk ordering food for the next week.
The pantries are enhanced by advice sessions, information sharing and signposting such as money advice, domestic abuse services, or more holistic sessions such as food growing. HLP is also training parents and offering opportunities to gain employment skills by recruiting them to courses like its Food Ambassadors programme, which has so far given around 40 people a Level 2 health and safety certification to enable better use of community kitchens in halls and community centres.
How it works
This initiative is one of several funded by the Lambeth Early Action Partnership, which works exclusively with pregnant women and children aged 0 – three years and their families, to support families at every step through pregnancy and the early stages of a child’s life.
Set up in 2015, LEAP is made up of parents, early years practitioners, nurseries, children’s centres, the National Children’s Bureau, Lambeth Council, NHS trusts, community organisations and several local charities.
Its CoCreate Fund is open to organisations who already work with children from birth to three and their families, but also to those who do not yet and who would like to initiate new work in this area. Groups can apply for £2,000 for light-touch initiatives with brief evaluation, or £10,000 for delivery of an in-depth initiative, followed by advanced evaluation and learning. Only formally constituted voluntary or community organisations based within Stockwell, Vassall, Coldharbour or Tulse Hill or are willing to deliver initiatives/demonstrate benefits within one/more of these ward
Funds are awarded for initiatives in three areas: Diet and nutrition, social and emotional well-being, and Communication and language.
Successful groups are provided with tailored support by the LEAP team throughout their journey, from application to service referrals and through to evaluation. They also support each other and make connections through regular networking sessions.
The programme is funded by A Better Start, a ten-year (2015-2025), £215 million programme set-up by The National Lottery Community Fund. The National Children’s Bureau (NCB) is sharing the results, as the programme aims to encourage a shift in culture and spending towards prevention work, and the development of more joined-up, needs-led services, as well as services that work with the whole family to improve outcomes for children.
Helen Wiggins, Community Programmes manager at the Healthy Living Platform says: ‘What’s brilliant about the CoCreate initiative is that they are collaborative projects, they are co-produced with local parents and the local community. It’s been fantastic to work together in local sites with local parents who know their community so well.’
Case study: Whippersnappers– Choose what we do club
Whippersnappers provides a diverse cultural platform from which children and adults of all ages, needs and backgrounds can express and educate themselves through music, theatre and the arts.
Its CoCreate ‘Choose what we do’ club is for families with children who have SEND. The club offers messy play, arts and crafts, music, Makaton signing, PEC training, storytelling, and parent SEND support and information sessions. It is funded until March 2023 after receiving £2,000 from the fund.
The initiative enables parents to meet new people and share information and ideas. They develop new skills and identify challenges which can be overcome now or in the future. Children take part in creative activities which give them a strong foundation in speech and language development, encourage good interactions with their peers, and a fuller understanding of the world around them
Whippersnappers worked with LEAP to better understand the demographics of the area. They focused on co-producing the club with parents, carers and their children by inviting them to taster sessions where they chose from a menu of activities and suggested other activities not on the list.
One parent commented, ‘I feel less isolated being able to take part in activities with other parents of children with additional needs. So, thank you.’
More information here