Current work

Please contact us if you would like more information on any of these areas of work.

Celebrating Outcomes

In January 2011 we launched Celebrating Outcomes, a publication that highlights the contribution community food intiatives are making towards achieving national priorities and outcomes.

We hope that this celebration will emphasis, both for community food initiatives and for local and national policy makers, the difference made by community food initiatives for local communities. In particular we hope to increase the links between this work and national and local priorities for Scotland.

We will continue to highlight the contribution of community food intiatives and keep this information 'live', so if you, or anyone you know, contributes towards national outcomes or local outcomes, such as through Single Outcome Agreements, please let us know.

Factsheet: community food initiatives contributing to the Scottish Government Obesity Route Map for Preventing Overweight and Obesity in Scotland

In February 2010 the Scottish Government published the Obesity Route Map - a long-term strategy for preventing overweight and obesity in Scotland. In March 2011 the Scottish Government launched its action plan for this strategy, and accompanying indicators for measuring progress towards achieving these actions.

Following the publication of the Obesity Route Map action plan, CFHS published a factsheet (PDF 344 kb) highlighting how community food initiatives are contributing to the outcomes outlined within the strategy.  The factsheet links the work of community food initiatives to a Healthy Weight Outcomes Framework that informed the development of the action plan. This framework consists of logic models that illustrate how certain actions will achieve change for Scotland. Using case studies we have highlighted how community food initiatives are contributing towards these changes.

Factsheet: Gathering information - the role of databases

Community food initiatives across Scotland are delivering a wide range of activities for individuals and families and also often working with a range of partners. In order to monitor and report on their activities, organisations need to have a systematic way of gathering information about the delivery and impact of these activities.

This factsheet (PDF 311 kb) shares how three communtiy food initiatives use databases to gather, store and use their information. Using case studies we have highlighted: why community food initiatives use databases;the advantages of using a database;what you need to do to develop and maintain a database; how community food initiatives can protect their database; and some top tips for planning a database.   

Economic evidence

Over the last couple of years CFHS has been involved in work around exploring how community based health initiatives could use economic evidence to demonstrate their impact. In 2009 CFHS worked with the Food Train and Edinburgh Community Food to commission economic evaluations of the Food Train in Dumfries and  Galloway and the Happy Jack project in Edinburgh.

This work was happening alongside the work of the Economic Evidence Working Group, led by NHS Health Scotland, which has been exploring economic evidence for community led health organisations and how people can be supported to gather and use this type of evidence. In April this year the Economic Evidence Working Group hosted a roundtable discussion with community and voluntary organisations that have an interest in economic evidence and produced a report (PDF 504 kb) from the day. The working group is now producing a briefing paper that aims to answer the questions that were raised at the roundtable discussion, which will be available to download in May.  

A focus on older people

Mapping Food Services for Older People in the Community 

This study, jointly managed by CFHS and Consumer Focus Scotland has now been completed.  A report with recommendations is now being developed for launch in early summer..

Funded by the Scottish Government, the  study has three main elements - a questionnaire to all local authorities on the range of food services they provide, either in-house or commissioned. Information has been received from 28 out of 32 local authorities. Three case studies of voluntary and community sector provision. These have been developed by community based organisations in North East Edinburgh, Moray and the Western Isles.

Focus groups and interviews with at least 60 older people to find out what they think of the services that they use.  

The study builds on previous CFHS work:

Round table discussion: a focus on food services for older people in the community, held in February.   Notes from the roundtable discussion (PDF 117 kb) are available.

Older People Eating Well: networking event for community food initiatives that support older people to eat well held in Perth on 16 June. Notes of the meeting (PDF 179 kb) are available.

Moray Older People's Survey on Food and Related Issues carried out by Community First (Moray) (report). report (PDF 843 kb) , The  questionnaire (PDF 109 kb and methodology (Word 15 kb) is now also available to any other organisations that want to build a picture of the experience of older people in their particular area.

Lunch clubs - good practice examples
We are collecting materials on the range of different models organisations are using to develop and run lunch clubs. There are a number of different approaches being used in different parts of the country and by bringing together some examples we hope to share good practice and stimulate developments in new areas.

If you have any material already written that you are happy to share with others and/or happy to chat through how you have developed and run your lunch club and how we can take this work forward, please get in touch. We would also be keen to hear of any examples of good practice in running lunch clubs that you think should be included.

Innovation funding
Four organisations working with older people have received funding to further develop their work around food. Full details of the initiatives that look at cooking, meals delivery, and information provision will be posted here soon.

If you have any ideas and plans for the future work that will result in innovative ways of improving access, affordability and skills in relation to older people and food, we are really keen to hear about them and to discuss how we can support you in brining them to fruition.

We are currently pleased to be supporting the roll out of the Food Train to West Lothian, as part of the organisation's national roll out plans.

For further information on any of these developments, and to be added to the mailing list for regular updates, please contact Sue.  

Community-based organisations working with minority ethnic children, pregnant women and families - training in food, nutrition and health

Beyond Smoothies: youth food and health networking event and publications

In 2009 we awarded funding to 24 groups working with young people up to £2000 to take part in the REHIS Elementary Food and Health course and develop healthy eating activities. Around half of the groups worked with vulnerable young people such as young carers and those that had experienced homelessness . The Beyond Smoothies (PDF 1417 kb)  report shows what 20 of these groups learnt and gained from taking part in the basic nutrition course and delivering healthy eating activities.

In early 2011 we held a youth, food and health networking event, which was attended by around 50 people. Interactive workshops were led by groups that had received funding from us as part of the 2009 youth programme. How to get beyond smoothies (PDF 478 kb)  gives top tips and ideas for promoting healthy eating activities with young people, all based on the experiences of youth workers from the networking event. Workshop leaders and those attending had used creative ideas to teach healthy eating activities. Our new fact sheet, TV Dinners (PDF 127 kb), provides examples of how groups working with young people have used TV formats, such as Come Dine with Me, to teach cookery skills.

REHIS elementary food and health course

Up until 2006, we worked with the Royal Environmental Health Institute of Scotland (REHIS) and other partners to develop a basic six-hour nutrition course - the ‘Elementary Food and Health’ course.

Since the Elementary Food and Health course was launched nationally in 2006, CFHS has delivered a targeted programme to promote it in low-income and excluded communities. This has included: low-income communities; organisations working with people affected by homelessness, the learning disability support sector and in the youth sector. A leaflet (PDF 2313 kb) a summary of this work. Our publication Food, training and learning disability (PDF 1011 kb) reports on this work in the learning disability support sector.    

Recently we were involved in a working group alongside the Scottish Learning Disability Clinical Dietetic Network, REHIS and others to design a REHIS Elementary Food and Health course tailored to care staff working in the learning disability sector. CFHS supported this work by providing towards the costs of piloting this course. The four pilot courses were recently completed and theworking group is currently making minor changes to the course and plant to launch the new course later this year.

Community Food and Health Initiatives with Minority Ethnic Communities in Scotland

Healthy Goals - Annual Networking Conference 2010

CFHS will shortly begin planning our 2011 annual networking conference. We hope to be able to release information about the conference location and them in the coming weeks.

The success of our events depend on the enthusiasm and motivation of community food and health initiatives to come together, and share experiences, learning and impact with others.

We will be offering community health initiatives the opportunity to deliver workshops and will circulate information about how you can do this in due course.  

The key presentations and key points from last year's conference are available below.

healthy-goals-presentation-south-west-chcp.pdf

healthy-goals-presentation-cyrenians.pdf 

Healthy Goals workshop key points (PDF 80 kb)

Work in retailing

CFHS continues to with the Scottish Grocers Federation (SGF) and community food networks to roll out the SGF 'Healthy Living' programme’s training and resources to community food co-ops, outlets and shops.  More than forty community retailing groups from across Scotland have taken part in a training session so far. Further sessions may be available in the future. Details of any forthcoming opportunities will be circulated widely. Many of the organisations that have taken part were funded by CFHS to promote their co-op, stall or shop in January. This promotion complemented a healthy living fortnight being run by the Scottish Grocers Federation’s 'Healthy Living' programme with convenience stores. An evaluation of CFHS's promotion will be available shortly.

For more information about our work with the Scottish Grocers Federation’s 'Healthy Living' programme, contact Anne.

CFHS is also on the board of the Community Retailing Network, which represents a number of community-owned shops in some of Scotland’s remotest communities.

Community food workers

CFHS recently held a pilot networking event for community food workers. This event gave community food workers an opportunity to come together and share around community food work on a range of themes across a range of topics. Community Food Development Workers also discussed the key characteristics of their role and the unique value that they bring to supporting and working with local communities. Key points from this discussion and an evaluation of the event are available here:

Food, mental health and wellbeing

CFHS and the Scottish Development Centre for Mental Health have produced a joint bulletin on the links between food, mental health and wellbeing.  The bulletin includes a look at current literature on the topic, together with five case studies of work in different parts of the country.

The organisations that provided case studies are Bridging the Gap in Glasgow, Dundee Healthy Living Initiative, Stepping Out in North Berwick, Glasgow Association for Mental Health and NHS Dumfries and Galloway. 

For more information, please contact Sue.

The funding provided to community based mental health organisations to undertake training in food, nutrition and health has now been evaluated. A report on the outcomes (PDF 111 kb) is now available.

Evidencing our impact - celebrating the contribution of community food initiatives

Across Scotland community food initiatives are making a difference. Through improved access to food, communities address health inequalities and improve the health of individuals and families.  This event, held on 23/24 August 2010, brought people together who have very different experiences of evaluation - those who are new to self-evaluation and those who have done lots of evaluation. A number of different organisations who will be involved in this event, including the Scottish Government, Evaluation Support Scotland, the BIG Lottery Fund and community food initiatives. 

Selling fruit and vegetables in hospitals and health centres

CFHS’s publication about community food initiatives retailing in hospitals will be available soon.

In early January CFHS hosted a roundtable discussion about food co-ops and stalls operating in hospitals and health centres. This meeting was very successful, with people attending from Dumfries and Galloway, Aberdeen, Forth Valley, Edinburgh and Lanarkshire.

A short report from the discussion (PDF 80 kb) , describing the successes, challenges and ideas for best practice is now available.

Evaluations of some of the community food initiatives involved are also available to download below.

Evaluation of CFINE at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary [presentation] (PDF 192 kb]

Evaluation of CFINE at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary (PDF 40 kb)

Evaluation of Fruits and Fruits in Lanarkshire [presentation] (PDF 754 kb)

Evaluation of 'Allotment' at Dumfries and Galloway Royal Infirmary [presentation] (PDF 99 kb)

If you are involved in similar work and would like to share your learning, please contact Katrina.

Exploring food and families in East Lothian

CFHS and Edinburgh Napier University are collaborating with two community groups in East Lothian to explore family food practices for families with young children. This research will take place over the next few months and will involve speaking with parents to find out more about the role food plays in their family and what influences this. As part of this work we will be exploring how parents understand and talk about food and its relationship with health, in particular for younger children. We will also be exploring what influences this, such as the wider family, the current recession and other barriers that families might be experiencing. The findings from this work will be shared between the groups to help them learn about the work they do around food and health. We will also share the findings more widely later in the year.

Capacity building pilot for community cafes

CFHS has mapped community cafes across Scotland. We have also completed research that looks in detail at the operation and management of 12 community cafes. The mapping and the research report (PDF 952 kb) are now available.

With the Edinburgh Food and Health Training Hub, we ran a capacity building pilot for community cafes between March and June this year. Nine cafes in total took part in the programme. Feedback from the participants was very positive and evaluation of the pilot (PDF 161 kb) is now available.

For more details about any of the above, contact Anne.

Community food sector as a key contributor to health

In 2007 the Scottish Government launched its National Performance Framework, which includes one overarching purpose, strategic objectives, 15 national outcomes and 45 national indicators. This outcomes-focused approach details the national outcomes that the Scottish Government believes need to be achieved in order to make Scotland wealthier and fairer, safer and stronger, smarter, greener and healthier. The national outcomes also directly inform Single Outcome Agreements.

Considering this framework, CFHS has been exploring the national outcomes and how to highlight the contribution community food initiatives are making to the desired changes for Scotland. In order to ensure that the contribution made by community food initiatives is recognised, we want to demonstrate how it is made and what it looks like in practice.

We have heard from some community food initiatives about how they feel they are making a contribution across Scotland. We will be collating everyone's responses to create a picture of the sector's work and to showcase examples of how community food initiatives are making a key contribution across Scotland.

If you would like to send us any information about your project or organisation, please use the template below.

Contribution to national outcomes template (PDF 102 kb)

For more information, please contact Katrina.

Single Outcome Agreements

Single Outcome Agreements (SOAs) are now the key way that Community Planning Partnerships (CPPs) identify their priorities for local communities, in line with national outcomes identified by the Scottish Government. In June 2009 the second round of SOAs were agreed between the Scottish Government and CPPs, which set out the outcomes CPPs are aiming to achieve for local communities. In order to measure change within local communities and progress towards achieving local and national outcomes, SOAs include a wide range of different indicators, selected at a local level.

As part of the continual development of SOAs, CFHS, along with CHEX and VHS, have been invited to comment on the menu of indicators, from which CPPs can select the most relevant (or they can develop their own). The aim of this work is to continue to develop indicators that are meaningful at a local level and across Scotland. CFHS is using this opportunity to highlight the contribution made by community and voluntary organisations and hope to influence the indicators to incorporate this.

We have heard about one or two examples of people linking the outcomes they achieve to those within their local SOAs. If you have been involved in any work like this we would be really keen to hear from you and to hear about how you got on.

Please contact Katrina.

Small Grant Scheme

We distribute a total of £100,000 each year through our small grants scheme. Groups and agencies can apply for between £500 and £4000 to develop healthy eating activities with or within low-income groups based in Scotland.

The small grants scheme for 2010 has now closed. See our funding section for more details. 

Learning and development programme

An evaluation of CFHS's learning and development programme, delivered early in 2011, will be available shortly.