Coventry
“We empower people and organisations in Coventry to design strategies and deliver activities to end food poverty, build resilience and influence change. Our vision is a food resilient city where no one goes hungry.”
We have worked with Feeding Coventry and Coventry Food Network to develop an extensive network of Affordable Food Clubs. Specialist Advice Workers are available within food projects, as part of the Pathways from Poverty programme, and families are supported all year round through school holiday programmes of food and fun.
Affordable Food Clubs in this area include:
A full list of Coventry food projects can be found here
The mission
Feeding Coventry is a small charity with big ambition: to create a food resilience city in Coventry where nobody goes hungry. We’re committed to working with partners and local communities to tackle the root causes of hunger, build food security, provide low cost food to vulnerable groups and support people in crisis.
How we work
Feeding Coventry is a registered charity and part of the nationwide Feeding Britain pilot areas. We’re governed by a trustees board and supported by a regular steering group made up of partners from across the city. The Feeding Coventry steering group is chaired by Cllr. Faye Abbott, and receives project support from Tina Wukics, a local government officer.
What we’ve achieved
Key activities implemented over the past year include:
- Holiday Food and Fun Clubs across the city
- Food Poverty Awareness Week
- The design and launch of the Coventry Food Charter
- Food Services Mapping Tool – an online tool which maps out food aid provision across Coventry
- Supporting the Turn your change into action for rough sleepers in Coventry
- Produced a Feeding Coventry leaflet, giving information about emergency food in Coventry over the Christmas and New Year period
- A successful joint bid with Feeding Britain and Cheshire West for funds from the Big Lottery to establish a local Citizens’ Supermarket
- The successful asset transfer from Coventry City Council of Foleshill Community Centre. The building has been part renovated and we are giving an asset back to everyone who lives in Foleshill for inclusive use
- In March 2020 we opened Coventry’s first ‘Social Supermarket’, an innovative model for providing affordable, good quality food alongside local produce and goods and wraparound advice services
What’s next
By the end of the project we want the community to take ownership of a discounted food scheme, a community café, school holiday hunger programmes, cooking programmes and vocational support, peer mentoring and free, confidential advice.
Related resources & materials
In the news
First look inside Coventry’s social supermarket where you pay £4 to fill a bag – Coventry Telegraph
Community, Sustainability, and Resilience
For more information about the pilot and ways to get involved please visit their website.
Levels of local food insecurity
According to the University of Sheffield’s research into local food insecurity of adults (Jan 2021), in Coventry:
- 2.60% of adults suffered from hunger
- 16.88% struggled to access food
- 12.26% worried about not having enough food
About this research:
The University of Sheffield have published statistics of UK adult food insecurity at Local Authority scale. You can view the map of measures of food insecurity here.
Hungry is defined as having skipped food for a whole day or more in the previous month or indicated they were hungry but not eaten because they could not afford or get access to food.
Struggle is defined as a positive response to at least one of the following:
- Sought help accessing food
- Skipped or shrank meal
- Gave a reason for not having enough food
Worry is defined as choosing very worried or fairly worried about getting food.