THE LARDER WEST LOTHIAN 

Donation from Foundation Scotland. Thank you for your contribution to our Annual Gathering.

We'd like to run two 'Cook and Dine' courses for food insecure individuals to develop peer relationships and build life skills while utilising food as the catalyst for learning.

This group will address food insecurity in West Lothian by scaling up a number of established food provision services. The project targets older people low income households those experiencing food ....more

This group will address food insecurity in West Lothian by scaling up a number of established food provision services. The project targets older people low income households those experiencing food insecurity poor mental health homelessness and those experiencing significant financial adversity. This project will benefit 200 people and work with 15 volunteers over 12 months.

Catalyst Kitchen provides a food lifeline delivered to your door or to a local community partner for those experiencing food insecurity.

The Larder uses cooking and food as a medium to help young people to improve their confidence, reconnect with learning, and move into employment. It runs a cooking school and four community cafés, ....more

The Larder uses cooking and food as a medium to help young people to improve their confidence, reconnect with learning, and move into employment. It runs a cooking school and four community cafés, where students train and serve high quality food to the local community. This grant supports core staff roles in The Larder in order to strengthen the sustainability of the organisation in the long term.

towards Resilient award.

Detailed description not provided.

Detailed description not provided.

towards three years' salary of the Progression Co-ordinator and the Employability Liaison Officer of the 'Academy Project' providing training and employability support for young people from ....more

towards three years' salary of the Progression Co-ordinator and the Employability Liaison Officer of the 'Academy Project' providing training and employability support for young people from disadvantaged communities in West Lothian.

Detailed description not provided.

To enable The Larder West Lothian to employ a fulltime Food Support Worker/Driver to manage the distribution of its hot meal deliveries to vulnerable people in West Lothian.

The Larder: Core Costs

to contribute towards the salary costs of the Chief Executive.

Detailed description not provided.

Detailed description not provided.

Support to aid the organisation in dealing with the challenges posed by COVID19.

To provide in excess of 2000 cooked chilled meals per week to the most vulnerable families across West Lothian.

Food for clients in Bed &Breakfast accommodation

To develop the infrastructure, evaluation system and reach of a programme that helps young people to improve confidence and employability through cooking.

The Larder currently delivers hospitality training and employability services for those furthest from the job market and we teach commercial customers to cook, including children and adults. Our ....more

The Larder currently delivers hospitality training and employability services for those furthest from the job market and we teach commercial customers to cook, including children and adults. Our professional staff team and volunteers deliver these services from our bespoke cook school in Livingston. Over the last three years we have also started to hone our response to food insecurity and to identify our input into the West Lothian Anti-Poverty Strategy. These services are mainly delivered during the day mid-week and evenings at the weekend with some weekend days being used too. This Food for All project will allow us to: • maximise the use of community resources (including our own) and develop a more inclusive and sustainable response to poverty and inequality in general. • Develop and evidence a more sustainable response to food insecurity than previously piloted • increase our partnership working • Increase volunteering opportunities • Increase work experience opportunities for our hospitality trainees, moving them closer to the job market • Provide a response to the recommendations set out in the aforementioned research report into food insecurity, which in turn will: o Identify, at an earlier stage, needs in relation to food planning, budgeting and cooking o Improve and increase partnership opportunities to respond to welfare reform and food insecurity, including with retailers, distributors and independent businesses o Increase access to food budgeting and cooking support at the time that is right for the individual o Increase networking opportunities around food insecurity, cooking and food production. o Raise the profile of food insecurity across the county and widen the parameters of who can contribute to an inclusive, more sustainable and resilient model. Importantly, for The Larder, The continuation of the Food for All project will provide additional work experience opportunities for our trainees who are mainly aged 14 to 24 and who themselves very often experience food insecurity. By increasing their ability to cook for themselves and others we will build their resilience and capacity to manage their finances and cook high quality food with the minimum amount of money. By opening our doors on evenings and days that it would normally lie empty and by accessing under utilised community facilities, we will provide a high end dining experience in a non-threatening and supportive environment. This will bring people together break down barriers and reduce stigma about food insecurity at the same time as offering real and achievable support to move out of it. Those experiencing food insecurity will have: • Increased access to healthy nutritious food • Have their food planning, budgeting and cooking skills development needs identified at an earlier stage • Those that volunteer will increase their cooking skills and build personal resilience. • Reduced social isolation • An opportunity to enjoy socialising with high quality food in a restaurant setting, therefore reducing food inequality • Increased food planning, budgeting and cooking skills • Increased access to advice and support services • Increased access to volunteering • Increased access to work experience opportunities The Food for All project will deliver a minimum of 50 dining experiences for over 300 people, provide over 1000 meals and develop a minimum of 10 volunteering opportunities. The overall impact that this project will have in West Lothian is that those experiencing food insecurity as a result of low income or welfare reform will have better access to a more seamless set of services that enable them to build their individual and community capacity to prevent future food insecurity. The Third, public and private sectors will be more linked and are able to develop more collaborative responses to social problems. The impact for the West Lothian Anti-Poverty Strategy group is that organisations will be better connected, make better use of resources to create transformational change, have a greater understanding of how each organisation can contribute to a joint response. Finally the Food for All project will make good quality food more inclusive for all residents of West Lothian. The sustainability of the project will be supported through the introduction of a Pay it Forward scheme where commercial customers or general donors will have the opportunity to 'bank' a meal in one of our cafes or through our website. Whilst the project is funded for one year we will build up a reserve that will continue the project each year thereafter.

The Salary Costs of the Training Officer

This group are setting up a new community food hub in East Calder which will be used for training placements for young people and community events. This grant will fund equipment and initial costs ....more

This group are setting up a new community food hub in East Calder which will be used for training placements for young people and community events. This grant will fund equipment and initial costs for the first group of trainees once the hub opens.

What we will do The larder's proposition is that it will develop and pilot a new project called Food For All. This project will offer weekly dining and volunteering experiences for individuals and ....more

What we will do The larder's proposition is that it will develop and pilot a new project called Food For All. This project will offer weekly dining and volunteering experiences for individuals and families who have been impacted by welfare reform, are on low incomes and who are experiencing food insecurity. These dining experiences will provide access to high quality nutritious meals made by existing volunteers and trainees from The Larder cook school, supported by chefs from The Larder and visiting Chef's from local businesses across West Lothian and beyond. The food will be sourced from the Fare Share Cloud system working in partnership with the local Tesco store. Our own suppliers will be asked to sponsor events as will local businesses. Each week we will offer 20 dining experiences, for individuals and families, in our bespoke cook school and café/bistro, rising to 30 per week by the end of the project. Diners will be referred from a range of partners including; social work, advice shop, Whole Family Support, youth Action project, West Lothian Drug and Alcohol Service, Women's Aid, Homeless organisations, WLC Housing services, Family and Community Development West Lothian, youth Services, Adult Education, criminal justice, Housing Associations. As the project progresses diners will be asked to volunteer in the kitchen, preparing and cooking the food. They will learn how to cook the meals for other diners and will have a meal themselves. Those willing to volunteer will then go on a cooking rota and will participate in future dining experiences either as a volunteer cook or as a diner. In addition to cooking for diners the new cooking volunteers will be offered access to free cookery classes at The Larder which will provide a bespoke programme for each based on their needs i.e. it will take into consideration their current living circumstances, family set up, their physical ability and their existing skills in food planning, budgeting and cooking. Initially the dining events will operate once per month, increasing to weekly by the end of the project. The project will be delivered from the Larder's bespoke cook school in Livingston. We recognise that transport may be an issue for some so we will recruit volunteer drivers and seek sponsorship from First Bus and Blue Bus who are the two main transport operatives servicing the area. At each dining event partner organisations will be on hand to provide advice on income maximisation, social security, job search opportunities and signpost to relevant organisations. Larder staff will be available to offer advice on planning meals and cooking of a budget. Recipes will be handed out each week and will be incorporated into a recipe booklet at the end of the project. The recipes and the recipe book will include hints and tips on cooking on a budget, cooking for one, cooking for large families, cooking without a cooker, one pot cooking, slow cooker cooking and general advice on how to cook in a variety of living circumstances. This process will enhance partnership working to address food insecurity in West Lothian and increase each partner's understanding of what people are experiencing in relation to food insecurity and why. This process will also facilitate the development of life skills such as cooking, social activities for those in financial hardship and build resilience for individuals and families to respond to the financial circumstances that they are living in. The approach that we have adopted will facilitate a 'normalisation' of food for those that do not normally have the opportunity to access high quality restaurant food, reducing food inequality that is creeping into our society. Overall the project will work with a minimum of 300 people over the year and will provide over 1000 meals. We will recruit a minimum of 40 new cooking volunteers, 5 volunteer drivers and a minimum of 5 visiting chefs. We recognise that many of the diners will return more than once, until they no longer require the service. We will provide 3 x 3 days cookery courses for a maximum of 30 individuals and will provide a minimum of 15 fee places for referred children into our kids cookery classes Why we want to do this The reason for the development of this pilot project is based on our own recent experiences and local and national research. Household food insecurity (HFI) has become a subject of policy concern in Scotland and the UK in recent years with research evidence indicating that there are an increasing number of households which are unable to sustain normal patterns of food shopping and eating, and are seeking charitable food aid (or other support) to help them do so. In addition to this policy concern, increasingly food is being polarised in our society, becoming a social focus for those with a higher disposable income whilst increasing numbers have to turn to emergency food aid, do not enjoy food and it plays no part in social activity for them. At a local level a recent report commissioned by West Lothian Council (FOOD INSECURITY IN WEST LOTHIAN 2016) recognised that foodbanks are the most visible indicator of food insecurity but are not necessarily the best measure as they specifically limit support to food packages for three days on a maximum of three occasions. The report identified that West Lothian has nine food banks; Bathgate, Boghall, Blackburn and Seafield, Broxburn, Deans, Dedridge, Knightsridge, Linlithgow and Whitburn. These are largely staffed by volunteers and have different days and hours of opening, ranging from two to three hours per day and one to three days per week. None are open at the weekend. Estimates of food insecurity in West Lothian vary and range from: • the 2,011 adults and 2,534 children benefitting from Trussell Trust food bank support in the 12 months to September 2016. Another way to estimate need is to use the results of the Insecurity and Social Exclusion (PSE) research project and apply these to West Lothian so that; • the PSE reports that around 1 in 20 people are unable to afford an adequate diet which, applied to the West Lothian population of 178,550 would amount to 10,713 people. • the PSE report that 7% of adults in Scotland lack adequate key food items (two meals a day, fresh fruit and vegetables daily; and meat/fish or vegetarian alternative equivalent every other day) – which applied to the West Lothian adult population of 143,448 is 10,041 adults. • the PSE report that 3% of households in Scotland with children lack key food items (three meals a day, fresh fruit and vegetables every day; and meat, fish or a vegetarian equivalent at least once a day) which for the 22,806 West Lothian families with children amounts to 684 households with children (all of whom will have adults skipping meals to enable children to eat better). Food insecurity in West Lothian is therefore likely to amount to between 3,300 based on the food bank statistics up to over 10,000 people based on national research. The report states 'The latter figure is probably closer to an accurate assessment'. The report concludes that: • Awareness of food insecurity and client capacity for cooking can often be missing and needs go unidentified. • There may be additional partnership working which could be developed with distributors, retailers and independent businesses. • The value placed upon budgeting and cooking skills when delivered at the right time is invaluable for those experiencing food insecurity. • The main contributory factors behind food insecurity include various life transitions (e.g. relationship breakdown, illness, retirement, ageing etc) • There are many good organisations working with vulnerable clients but awareness of what other organisations do and how they might work together are sometimes lacking – the Food Insecurity Group should consider how to increase networking around food insecurity, cooking and food production. • There should be a focus on food insecurity within the West Lothian Anti-Poverty Strategy to raise the profile of the issue and the need for action around it. The report provides evidence that food insecurity is still a rising issue in West Lothian and that all partners have to work together to identify and address this issue in a sustainable way. This project will provide an opportunity for increased partnership working, joint needs identification and increased access to wrap around support and skills development for those most in need of access to good quality food. The Food for All project builds on work that the Larder has developed over a three year period. On 2nd September 2014 The Larder brought together 50 individuals from across West Lothian at a conference called More Than Food Banks. The conference provided an opportunity for participants to discuss the impact that food insecurity is having on individuals and communities across West Lothian, to explore solutions to these issues and to look ahead to a more equal and inclusive West Lothian. It was agreed by those attending that there was a need for food budgeting, food planning and cooking programmes to be offered to those using food banks and beyond. The Larder then applied to and was successful in accessing funding from the SG Community Capacity and Resilience Fund to pilot this idea. The pilot was successful in that we worked with a range of partners, delivered what we said we would but identified that there is a lack of facilities in West Lothian that can facilitate effective cookery classes. Those that participated in the pilot found the classes useful but due to other pressures in their lives at that point of crises they couldn't always attend. They did value the budgeting and food planning aspects as well as the cooking on a budget. The conclusion from the pilot was that there is a need for access to food planning and budgeting, cooking and a general increase in access to high quality food and that recipients of such services should be beyond those accessing food banks and if a more relaxed and informal environment. Who will benefit? The main beneficiaries of the project will be individuals and families who have been impacted by welfare reform and/or are on low incomes. The report carried out by West Lothian Council on food insecurity stated: 'Over two-thirds of the participants (of the survery) have cause to worry about not having enough food (70%) or the quality of food (61%) they consume. Although a slightly lower proportion worry about the quality of food they consume the proportion remains high. This would suggest that many clients are aware that their food choices are not as healthy and nutritious as they would like them to be but make sacrifices in order to manage on tight budgets.' The report further commented that 'Participants were aware of the need to make benefits or wages last until the next payment day but that was often difficult due to receiving a lower income than expected e.g. delay in benefit payments, lower wages and unanticipated expenses. The rise of zero hours contracts for people in low paid and insecure employment makes budgeting very difficult as there is no regular income.' In recognition of findings in the report we are also keen to target those who have multiple barriers to food equality so some beneficiaries may also have mental health problems, be homeless, be long term unemployed, be on zero hour contracts, be in transition in their life where there has been dramatic change, have experience of drug and alcohol problems, have care experience, be ex-offenders, be socially isolated etc. We will take referrals for individuals and families. Where families are concerned we will provide an opportunity for children to learn to cook by providing some free places on our kids cookery classes throughout the year. Where the family has a baby we will provide instruction on how to wean the baby with pureed fruit and vegetables. This cradle to grave approach will build family resilience and hopefully prevent younger generations experiencing food insecurity. Referrals for individuals will be for any age and they will benefit by being able to access high quality healthy food in a social setting, potential to volunteer which will build skills, confidence and provide real life work experience. We will seek referrals from organisations supporting older people who may be experiencing isolation or lacking in cookery skills. Participating in the programme will reduce isolation for older people through eating with others, potentially volunteering and eating healthy food. Existing volunteers with The Larder will benefit from increased volunteering opportunities and a greater opportunity to expand their own skills and confidence. The new volunteers will benefit as they will learn how to cook, plan and budget for food, they will be more confident with food in general and will develop skills that are transferable to the workplace. Trainees will benefit as they will have increased work experience opportunities and develop a greater understanding of food insecurity and how communities can come together to prevent this is in the future. The trainees whilst cooking for others are developing their own skills and confidence to prevent the potential of them experiencing food poverty in the future as they will have a greater understand of food and budgeting. Overall the project will increase access to professional financial and practical advice and support in an informal environment, reduce social isolation, build capacity and resilience to be able to manage food better, increase equality of opportunity for all to enjoy good quality food in relaxed yet professional restaurant environment. The Larder as an organisation will build our capacity to be able to respond in a positive needs led way to food insecurity and make food are more sociable experience for all. The West Lothian Food Poverty Group will have an opportunity to respond to many of the recommendations in its report through increased partnership working, seamless advice and support services and a greater capacity to respond to food insecurity across the region, it will also increase its capacity to effectively respond to food insecurity across the county. The sustainability of the project will be supported through the introduction of a Pay it Forward scheme where commercial customers or general donors will have the opportunity to 'bank' a meal in one of our cafes or through our website. Whilst the project is funded for one year we will build up a reserve that will continue the project each year thereafter.

The Salary Costs of the Training Officer

towards the running costs of the Hospitality Skills Training Programme for 30 disadvantaged young people

The Salary Costs of the Training Officer

Detailed information not yet available.