Walsall set to receive £222k boost for healthier and more affordable food for all
Walsall is set to benefit from £222,000 of Government funding to help improve access to healthy and affordable food for residents.
The funding forms part of the Government’s new Good Food Neighbourhoods programme, which is investing almost £10 million across 45 local authorities in England with some of the highest levels of deprivation and childhood obesity. The funding is intended to support local solutions that improve access to healthy, affordable food and help communities tackle food insecurity.
The investment comes as partners across the borough work together to deliver Feeding Walsall’s Future: The Food Plan (2025-2030), which sets out a shared vision where good food is grown, accessible and promoted so residents can make healthy, nutritious and affordable food choices.
The Food Plan brings together organisations from across the food system through the Walsall Food Partnership to improve access to good food, support healthy eating and help tackle food insecurity. The investment is expected to strengthen this work already taking place.
Councillor Matt Eason, Portfolio Holder for Culture, Health and Wellbeing at Walsall Council said: “This funding provides an opportunity to build on the work already taking place across Walsall to help people access healthy and affordable food. The Walsall Food Plan is enabling partners across the borough to understand what our residents, communities and organisations need, and support initiatives that can make a positive difference. We look forward to exploring how this funding can help strengthen existing work and support improvements in access to good food for everyone in Walsall.”
Adam Carter, Chair of the Walsall Food Partnership said: “This funding is a welcome opportunity to build on the strong partnership work already taking place across Walsall. The Food Partnership brings together organisations from across the borough who share a commitment to improving access to healthy and affordable food. We know that many excellent projects are already making a difference in local communities and this investment has the potential to strengthen and complement that work. We look forward to working with partners and residents to explore how this funding can help support the priorities set out in Walsall’s Food Plan.”
The Food Plan focuses on improving access to good food, helping residents make healthier food choices, supporting responsible food practices and strengthening partnership working.
Walsall is already home to a wide range of initiatives that support residents, including community shops, food growing projects, Food for Life’s healthy eating programme in schools and communities, holiday activities and food provision (HAF) for children and families, support for breastfeeding and infant feeding under Walsall Welcomes Breastfeeding and partnership work with the voluntary and community sector to improve access to food in local communities.
Training has also been commissioned through Food for Life to enable frontline workers to learn about diet and nutrition, enabling advice and guidance on good food choices to be offered to people they work with. Research with the University of Wolverhampton is also taking place to understand the barriers to good food choices that children and their families experience, particularly as children transition into secondary education and how these challenges can be tackled.
Through the Walsall Food Partnership, organisations across the borough are working together to build on these foundations and improve food outcomes for residents.
To find out more about the Walsall Food Plan, visit the Walsall Council website.