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On Thursday 25 June, CFHS co-hosted this event in Edinburgh, looking at what we are learning and what we need to do about food, health and homelessness in Scotland. 70 people attended from a wide range of organisations working with people affected by homeless, Local Authorities, Health Boards, Scottish Government and the Care Commission. A brief summary of the day's event is available to download from the Current Work section.

Issue 4 of Engage, the magazine for the Meeting the Shared Challenge support programme, is now available from the NHS Health Scotland website.  This edition focuses on evidence and evaluation.

Richard Lochhead,  Rural Affairs and Environment Secretary, unveiled 'Recipe for Success' - setting out the next steps for the national food and drink policy - this morning at the Royal Highland Show.   It sets out steps to bring together key issues of health and environmental sustainability with business and community needs, and stresses the importance of strengthening community food and health initiatives.   Recipe for Success can be accessed here http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2009/06/19142130/0   The Leadership Forum...

Food, training and learning disability highlights work in Scotland to improve food and health for people with learning disabilities. The report  focuses on a  training project for support workers but also includes case studies from groups that regularly deliver cooking skills and healthy eating activities with people with learning disabilities. The Missing Ingredients is based on research carried out by Blake Stevenson to look at the impact of food, health and homelessness...

A programme of business support for up to 10 community food initiatives that expect to face sustainability isses within the next 6-18 months is now open. The programme will provide successful applicants with up to seven days business advice from a social enterprise support agency. Applications are being accepted from now until the end of October 2009. Guidelines and an application form are available from the Current Work section.

The deadline to apply to access the CFHS Learning Account with Evaluation Support Scotland (ESS) has been extended to 5pm Thursday 1 July. More information about this opportunity and how to apply is available in the Current Work section.

The SROI (Social Return on Investment) project website has been updated with new materials, case studies, an information leaflet and a downloadable Guide to SROI. Dates have also been confirmed for free SROI workshops. More information is available from www.sroiproject.org.uk

The Food Ethics Council want a fair future for food and farming and have commissioned an enquiry to hear first-hand experience from consumers, people working in food and farming, and from relevant research that sheds light on what this means in practice for government, business and the public. The Inquiry will collect written evidence from May 2009 and hold public hearings in September, October and November, reporting in the spring of...

Sustain: the Alliance for Food and Farming has produced a new food co-ops toolkit to help communities set up their own food co-ops and buying groups. The toolkit aims to provide an overview of the important things you need to think about when setting up and running a food co-op. The toolkit is only available to online at present and can be accessed at www.sustainweb.org/foodcoopstoolkit

Food Safety Week will take place between 15 – 21 June 2009.   This year the focus will be on people over 60 and the need for correct food storage and handling at home. This is in response to the sharp rise in listeria, especially in this age group - the number of cases in the over 60s has doubled since 2001 and it causes more deaths each year than salmonella and...

In response to identified need, Community Food and Health (Scotland) is currently supporting two economic evaluations of community food and health projects.  One of these projects is the Edinburgh Community Food Initiative (ECFI) Happy Jack Project, funded by the Sure Start Programme through The City of Edinburgh Council.  We are currently seeking expressions of interest from external agencies to carry out an economic evaluation of the Happy Jack Project.  Please visit the Current Work...

Public Health Minister Shona Robison has launched a trial programme to bring whole communities, towns or cities together to eat more healthily and be more active in addressing childhood obesity. Eight sites will take part in the programme: Dundee, Dumfries, SW Glasgow, North and East Ayrshire, West Lothian, North Lanarkshire and East Renfrewshire. This trial has been inspired by a French programme known as EPODE (Preventing Childhood Obesity Together) which...

This free event, co-hosted by Community Food and Health (Scotland) and Edinburgh Cyrenians, is an opportunity for those responsible for developing strategy to engage in dialogue with those who carry out food and health work with people affected by homelessness across Scotland and those who benefit directly from this work. The event takes place at the Scottish Storytelling Centre, Edinburgh from 10 am to 1 pm on Thursday 25 June. A booking...

The Future Jobs Fund was announced as part of the April 2009 Budget. It is a major new initiative which will operate across the UK, and is designed to create 15,000 jobs across Scotland between October 2009 and April 2011. A key element of the programme is that the jobs created should provide community benefit.  Funding of around £95 million will be available in Scotland and this will fund the costs of employing an...

East Glasgow CHCP currently has a vacancy for a Health Improvement Senior, Band 6 (£24,837-£33,432).  The post will lead the development and delivery of health improvement programmes within East Glasgow. Applicants should be educated to degree level or equivalent, ideally with a post graduate diploma in a health related discipline, and will have a sound understanding of health inequalities. Further information and an application pack is available at http://www.jobs.scot.nhs.uk/version2/vacancy.aspx?vacno=331431

WELFEHD is now recruiting for new directors to strengthen its board and take it to the next stage in its development. For more information and an application form visit www.welfehd.co.uk or contact Angela Moohan on 01506 429000, info@welfehd.co.uk Applications need to be received by Friday 22 May.

Community Food and Health (Scotland) is pleased to open the 2009 small grant scheme. Groups or agencies working with low-income groups in Scotland can apply for between £500 and a new upper limit of £4,000 to tackle the barriers to a healthy balanced diet. More information and an application pack is available from our Funding section.

The scoping study on options for collaborative working by community food and health organisations in Glasgow, produced for CFHS, is now available to download from our Publications Library. The study includes a mapping of current community food and health activity, details of the local and national policy context, and a number of options relating to the development of the Glasgow Community Food Network, including the establishment of a distribution hub in...

Our annual networking conference takes place on 22 October at Carnegie Conference Centre in Dunfermline. This year we would like to offer you the opportunity to lead a workshop for up to 25 participants. We particularly encourage and welcome workshops led by volunteers and participants who have benefitted from food and health activitiies. Further information and a template to complete is available from the Current Work section (scroll down to Annual...

A national event, Commercial Sponsorship in the Public Sector: Principles, Procedures and Possibilities, which will will expand on Consumer Focus' Guidelines on Commercial Sponsorship in the Public Sector, will take place in Glasgow on 10 June 2009. The event will enable key players from the public, third and private sectors to come together to examine how these principles and procedures can practically be put into place. Further information is available from www.pspevents.co.uk/sponsorship_glasgow.2009

NHS Health Scotland will lead and co-ordinate a programme of work in 2009/2010 to support the development of partnerships between Community and Voluntary Sector (CVS) organisations and Anticipatory Care (AC) programmes in Scotland.  The aim of the partnerships is to enhance the outcomes of Anticipatory Care in reaching and enhancing the health of people within the population target group.  A consultation is being undertaken on a paper outlining the proposed...

A few places are still available on the Social Enterprise Academy’s learning and development programme for community food initiatives that are interested in becoming, or finding  out more about, social enterprises.  The programme – Starting Your Social Enterprise  - is being delivered in 4 x 2-day blocks, between now and December 2009.  The first 2-day  programme module – Understanding Social Enterprise -  is being held on 27 and 28 April. More...

The Scottish Government has launched its community empowerment action plan, which builds on its joint statement with CoSLA on community empowerment in 2008. The action plan sets out a range of new and practical actions that underpin the process of community empowerment. New initiatives include a participatory budgeting pilot and an investment in the community engagement database -VOiCE. www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2009/03/20155113/0  

EKOS has been commissioned by the Dynamic Inclusive Communities Forum to carry out a mapping study (PDF 53.6 kb) examining support services for the third sector in Scotland    A key part of the study is seeking the views of third sector organisations and to do this it is hosting five workshops across the country and then following up with a panel survey at 6 monthly intervals until May 2010.   The workshops are being...

Growing Communities in Scotland is currently looking to recruit a team of fieldworkers who will work under the Partnership's Fieldwork Co-ordinator to provide advice and support to community and therapeutic gardening projects across Scotland and to help organise regional gathering and training events. Further information is available from www.trellisscotland.org.uk

'Growing Communities in Scotland’ is a Big Lottery funded Partnership between Trellis, FCFCG and the Allotments Regeneration Initiative.   The Growing Communities partnership is launching its ’ Sites Visits Travel Bursary' funded by the Big Lottery. This will be open to anyone actively engaged in community or therapeutic gardens or city farms that wishes to go and visit other such groups to share ideas and good practice. Further information and application packs are...

Issue 3 of Engage, the magazine for the Meeting the Shared Challenge support programme, is now available from the NHS Health Scotland website http://www.healthscotland.com/uploads/documents/9519-HSC0023%20Engage3_WEB.PDF

The People's Millions programme is now open for applications. Since 2005, the BIG Lottery has teamed up with ITV to give away lottery funding to projects that will benefit local communities across the UK. A wide range of projects have been funded in the past including wildlife gardens, play areas, and community halls. This year a total budget of £3.5 million is available across the UK with 14 grants of up to £50,000...

In addition to our annual small grants scheme, this year we are also offering a one-off youth funding package. The CFHS youth funding package offers up to £1000 towards the costs of staff, volunteers or peer educators completing the Royal Environmental Health Institute of Scotland) Elementary Food and Health course. This two-part package also offers up to £1000 towards developing healthy eating actviities with young people. For full information and application forms, please visit the Current Work...

Edinburgh Cyrenians is currently recruiting for a part-time (12 hours/week) Shift Co-ordinator. This is a fixed term contract for 9 months, £18,266 - £20,424. More information and an application pack is available from www.cyrenians,org.uk. Closing date for applications is 31 March at 12 noon. Interviews will be held on 7 April 2009.

The Healthy Eating, Active Living action plan set out the intention to establish a handful of Healthy Weight Communities across Scotland. These pathfinder programmes will aim to prevent obesity and associated illnesses, with an emphasis on addressing health inequalities.  The objective of the Healthy Weight Communities will be to demonstrate the ways in which gathering together diverse projects, under the shared purpose of tackling obesity, may have a greater impact...

Do you have the skills and time to commit to a voluntary organisation with plans to improve people's health and aspirations? Are you a good communicator, with skills in managing people, finance, marketing, nutrition or social enterprise?  If so, North Glasgow Community Food Initiative needs you. North Glasgow Community Food Initiative is a hands-on food organisation based in Springburn, committed to improving overall health by leading on projects which include fruit...

The Energy Saving Scotland advice centre and the Sustainable Development Commission Scotland are hosting two free events to give community groups that opportunity to discover the Climate Challenge Fund and the organisations that can help them to realise their vision to become a low carbon community. The agenda for the events features speakers from Scottish Government and Climate Challenge Funded projects, as well as workshops, including one on to how to apply...

Soil Association Scotland is holding a series of public meetings throughout Scotland in the coming weeks. Members of the public are invited to take part in a discussion on how local communities can help create a healthier food culture, and a sustainable future for food and farming in Scotland. There will be an opportunity to meet local food producers and to find out about inspiring local food projects in what...

The Scottish Government is now accepting applications for the Third Sector Enterprise Fund.  This £12 million Fund, available from April 2009 to March 2011 ‘aims to support ambitious third sector organisations that wish to operate in a more business-like and enterprising way, with a view to achieving increased sustainability’.  It will invest in activities such as operations, skills and skills utilisation, marketing and business development, governance and financial controls, plant and...

This event to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Caroline Walker Trust took place on Tuesday 25 November 2008. The day covered aspects of public health nutrition, and a variety of topics such as UK food policies, pregnancy, early years and older people were critically assessed and discussed by speakers. Conference materials are now available to download from www.cwt.org.uk/events_2008.html Also available as a free download is Eating Well for Under 5's in Childcare:...

The Welsh Food Alliance is encouraging older people in the UK to have their say in the planning of an ‘older peoples’ food charter’ by taking part in its latest survey looking at older people’s experience and expectations of  food-related goods and services from the public sector and retailers.  Following up the survey will be the Older Person's Food Summit 2009 in Cardiff  on 18 March which is intended as a forum for UK-wide dialogue and action...

Off to a Good Start, a conference to promote breastfeeding, organised by NHS Health Scotland, in partnership with NHS Education for Scotland and the Scottish Government, will be held at Glasgow Royal Concert Hall on 18 May 2009. Abstracts for the presentation of workshops or posters are currently being accepted, with a deadline of 30 January 2009. Further information is available from http://www.healthscotland.com/news/events-item/95.aspx  

Issue Two of Engage (PDF, 624 kb), the magazine for the Meeting the Shared Challenge support programme, is now available from the Health Scotland website The magazine highlights the work of this national capacity building programme for community-led health improvement.

Community Food Initiatives North East (CFINE) has recently launched its online shopping site www.Larderbytes.com   Bread, fruit/veg, fish, dairy and meat items can be ordered online and delivered free to anywhere in Aberdeen. More information on Larderbytes is available from CFINE on 01224 596156, email cfine@btconnect.com or visit www.Larderbytes.com

Issue 46 of Fare Choice is now available to download from the Our Newsletters section of the Publications Library.

A transformational framework to improve the life chances of Scotland's children and tackle inequalities by targeting the early years was launched by the Scottish Government and COSLA last week. The Early Years Framework, developed in collaboration with independent experts during the past nine months, sets out a radical shift away from the culture of crisis management to early intervention. It also aims to build greater resilience within families and communities. The full press...

Pilot projects aimed at improving children's health by providing targeted health-related services at school were unveiled yesterday by the Scottish Government as the first Equally Well implementation plan was published. The first children's health and wellbeing support pilot gets underway in South Ayrshire in January, followed by others in Moray, West Lothian and Clackmannanshire. Public Health Minister Shona Robison also announced the roll out of Keep Well checks - which aim to identify people...

In September 2008, we ran two tours to organisations in Aberdeen and Edinburgh delivering services for people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness and operating as social enterprises. A short report on the study tours is now available to download from the Conferences and Networking section of the Publications library.

The report and evaluation of the Getting Down to Business seminars, which offered participants in Edinburgh and Inverness the opportuniity to find out more about becoming a social enterprise, is now available to download from the Business and Project Development section of the Publications Library.

The Scottish Consumer Council (SCC), energywatch (Scotland) and Postwatch (Scotland) merged on 1st October 2008. The new stronger consumer organisation is known as Consumer Focus Scotland. All the development projects currently based at the SCC, including Community Food and Health (Scotland), will continue their award winning work as part of Consumer Focus Scotland.   

Fare Choice Issue 45 is now available to download from the Our Newsletters section of the Publications Library.

A booking form (PDF 1965 kb) is now available for our networking conference, Making a Difference, to be held at the Thistle Hotel, Glasgow on Tuesday 11 November. This year our theme focuses on the important contribution from community-based initiatives working towards achieving national priorities. Please note that the deadline for applications is 10 October.    

The Scottish Consumer Council, soon to form part of the new agency Consumer Focus Scotland, has recently launched the findings from a survey they commissioned of S3 and S4 pupils at three different schools to examine why young people chose to take their lunch outside school and what they bought to eat. Download Out to Lunch (580 kb)

The National Consumer Council (soon to become part of the new agency Consumer Focus) published an interesting report on take-aways earlier in the summer. The study looked at nutritional information available to consumers using the country's leading take-away chains. It also looked at what information consumers would expect and how they would use it. Download Takeway Health (124kb)

'Cut-price, what cost? How supermarkets can affect your chances of a healthy diet' is the fourth in a series of reports in which the National Consumer Council (soon to become part of the new agency Consumer Focus) rates the UK's top eight supermarkets on how they help their customers shop, cook and eat more healthily. The ratings are based on the salt content of supermarkets' own-brand foods, front and back-of-pack...

A recent publication by Glasgow Addiction Services summarises the key findings from a scoping exercise looking at the nutritional care currently provided within their service. The report found that there were high levels of nutritional problems amongst service users and identified some gaps in the service, including the need for more robust nutritional screening procedures, staff nutrition training and a lack of suitable nutrition education resources. The report will be...

ECFI works to tackle health inequalities through diet. It supplies healthy food through its warehouse and promotes healthy eating through its community projects across Edinburgh. It is looking for an experienced, entrepreneurial manager with a community development ethos to consolidate and develop its work. Salary: £31,821 p.a., pro rata for 21 hours. For an application pack phone 0131 467 7326 or email office@ecfi.org.uk Closing date: Thursday 25th September.

This report is now available to download from the Children and Young People section of the Publications Library.   This report highlights the first stage of a three part pilot programme commissioned by CFHS, and led by Evaluation Support Scotland to support six groups to show the impact of their work with parents and children aged 0-5 years. All the projects deliver a range of activities that address health inequalities as well...

Trellis (the Scottish Therapeutic Gardening Network) is currently recruiting for a part-time (15 hrs) Information Officer based in Perth, salary £19311 pro-rata. Further information is available from www.goodmoves.org.uk/findajob/findajobdet.asp?id=10275&tab=2    

A shop manager is required for a new fruit and vegetable social enterprise opening shortly in Dumfries town centre. More information and application details are available from www.jobcentreplus.gov.uk/Internet/jobDetails.do  (ref:DUC/37062)

Issue 44 of Fare Choice, our quarterly newsletter, is now available to download from the Publications Library.

A new action plan, 'Healthy Eating, Active Living', targeting obesity, poor diet and the promotion of physical exercise has been launched by the Scottish Government, highlighting an additional £40 million pounds of new funding to be provided over the next three years. The plan will have a focus on tackling health inequalities through targeted healthy living initiatives to fit into different lifestyle demands. More information is available from www.scotland.gov.uk/News/Releases/2008/06/20163233  

Equally Well, the report of the ministerial task force on health inequalities was launched last week by Minister for Public Health, Shona Robison. The report highlights the £1.78 billion being spent on tackling health inequalities over the next three years but recommends that this resource can deliver better outcomes by re-designing public services. This is backed by £15 million of new money to achieve this aim. More information is available from www.scotland.gov.uk/News/Releases/2008/06/19155721

A flavour of what the future holds for Scottish communities tackling food access, social exclusion and health inequalities was given today in the Ministerial announcement on a National Food Policy.  Richard Lochhead, Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs and the Environment, used this year's Royal Highland Show to outline the next steps towards a National Food Policy for Scotland. The full press release is available at www.scotland.gov.uk/News/Releases/2008/06/19101648    

The Food and Health Alliance (FHA) was set up to bring together, inform, and support those working to make a difference to food, nutrition, and health in Scotland. The Alliance is now seeking views about the information, networks, and support that you use, or might benefit from to help promote a safe, healthy, and balanced diet for Scotland. You can quickly register your views on the issue at www.ekosonlineresearch.co.uk/fha.htm. The...

To celebrate the 60th Anniversary of the NHS, Health Scotland is staging public health roadshows across Scotland’s 14 health boards. The roadshows will consist of interactive displays, a fruit machine game for children and lots of free merchandise will be given away on the day including a booklet celebrating ’60 years of health improvement’. List of roadshow locations and times (PDF 74kb) 

Major new funding has become available which may be of use to those trying to develop community-based sustainable food systems. Funding, from a few pounds to a million, is now available to community groups through the Scottish Government's new Climate Challenge Fund just launched. Food would be just one area of community activity that would qualify for support as long as it was leading to the reduction of carbon emissions...

The International Association for Public Participation is planning a conference, 'Public Participation and Social Responsibility: from why to how', to be held at the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow on 27-29 August 2008. The conference will be about 'embedding public participation into successful corporate social responsibility and policy making activities.' It will be an interactive conference, with a mixture of academic and practical sessions, keynote addresses and world cafe discussions....

Glasgow City Council’s Land and Environmental Services are carrying out a consultation on the draft Allotments Strategy, and they are seeking the views of allotment gardeners and other interested parties. The Strategy contains 10 key objectives, all of which aim to make Glasgow’s allotments provision the best it can be. For a copy of the Strategy, and information on when, where and how to submit written comments, look on www.glasgow.gov.uk/consultations, or...

CFHS is pleased to announce that the date has been set for this year's free annual networking conference which will be held at the Thistle Hotel, Glasgow on Tuesday 11 November. We are still in the early stages of planning this event, but further details will be available on this website in due course.

The deadline for responses to the Scottish Government's discussion paper on 'Taking Forward the Government Economic Strategy: A Discussion Paper on Tackling Poverty, Inequality and Deprivation in Scotland' has been extended to 30 June 2008. More information on the discussion and how to respond is available from www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2008/02/01150409/1  

CFHS is delighted to open the 2008 small grant scheme. Groups or agencies working with low-income groups in Scotland are welcome to apply for between £500 and £3000 to tackle one or more of the barriers to healthy eating that many people face on a low-income experience. Full details of eligibility and how to apply are available in our funding section or contact us for an application pack.

On 18 March CFHS facilitated a national seminar at the Piping Centre in Glasgow to ensure that the experience and understanding of low-income communities is included in the development of a future National Food Policy for Scotland. The report from that seminar (PDF 232 kb) contains the responses from the seminar and it represents solely the views and opinions of the participants. The majority of those who attended this seminar work or...

Queen Margaret University in Edinburgh is looking for community groups who are able to offer work placements to students (MSc in Public Health Nutrition and BSc (Hons) Nutrition) to complement their academic studies. If you are able to offer hands-on experience as a volunteer within your community group or organisation, please contact Dr Sandra Drummond,  SDrummond@qmu.ac.uk or Elaine Bannerman EBannerman@qmu.ac.uk    

The report of our annual networking conference, Back in Touch, held at Murrayfield Conference Centre in Edinburgh on 11 October 2007, is now available to download from the Publications Library.

Issue 43 of Fare Choice is now available to download from the Publications Library.

The next Food Access Network/FSA UK Liaison event will be held on Tuesday 16 April at the Wales Millennium Centre in Cardiff. The theme for this event will focus on ‘Food Access and Older People’ and this event is aimed at anyone from the UK or Republic of Ireland involved in food access activities with this group. It will be a great opportunity to exchange information and share good practice with others....

The discussion paper 'Choosing the Right Ingredients - the future of food for Scotland' sets out the Scottish Government's vision for food in Scotland.  Community Food and Health (Scotland) believes that the experience and understanding of disadvantaged communities will be crucial in ensuring future policy around food is inclusive and is keen to assist Scotland's low-income communities to have their say by: raising awareness of the discussion paper...

South Ayrshire Council has received £10,000 from the Food Standards Agency to deliver the REHIS Elementary Food and Health Course to specific target groups of people in the community. The project aims to deliver 11 courses training up to 154 people who engage directly with the specific target groups of people in the community. The aim being that those trained will use the acquired knowledge of food and health to...

The Hidden Gardens in Glasgow is currently recruiting for a Sessional Cookery Workshop leader (4-8 hours/week, salary £50/workshop) to facilitate cookery skills sessions as part of a weekly Baby Weaning Club and a Women's Cultural Cookery Group. Please note that only women are eligible to apply, as this post is exempt under Section 7(2)(e) of the Sex Discrimination Act 1975. Closing date for applications is 11 February 2008 and interview date 14...

Richard Lochhead, Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs and the Environment today launched a national discussion on a food policy for Scotland at a breakfast club in Edinburgh www.scotland.gov.uk/News/Releases/2008/01/14151919 The discussion paper 'Choosing the Right Ingredients - the future of food for Scotland' sets out the Scottish Government's vision for food in Scotland.  Responses to the discussion paper are sought by 25 April 2008 and there are a number of ways to...

CFHS is holding 2 one-day events for community food enterprises interested in finding out more about social enterprise - Getting Down to Business will take place on 7 February 2008 in Edinburgh, and 28 February 2008 in Inverness. Getting Down to Business will give participants an opportunity to find out more about social enterprises from the experts - community food initiatives running successfully as social enterprises and key agencies that provide support...

Edition 5 of our regular e-bulletin update on developments in food, health and homelessness in Scotland is now available to download from the Our Newslettters section of the Publications Library.

Issue 42 of Fare Choice, our quarterly newsletter, is now available to download from the Publications Library.

The Scottish Community Development Centre (SCDC) is taking forward four new programmes to help develop practice and improve outcomes in community engagement and community capacity.  ‘Strengthening Scotland’s Communities’ is one of these and aims to help improve the quality and impact of community capacity building in Scotland and will also include the development of a set of learning resources. Four related, but distinct learning events will be offered in different...

Two new publications are available to download from the Policy and Planning section of the Publications Library. The briefing paper Implementing Together the Community-Led Task Group Recommendations was written for participants of the CFHS annual networking conference held on 11 October 2007. It was jointly prepared by Community Health Exchange (CHEX), Health Scotland and the Scottish Community Development Centre, who together have responsibility for several of the Community-Led Supporting and Developing Healthy...

The University of Dundee and the Institute of Socail Marketing at the University of Stirling are looking for health professionals interested in the communication of portion size information when giving dietary advice to take part in a research project funded by NHS Health Scotland entitled 'Exploration of Adult Food Portion size tools'. If you are a dietitian, community pharmacist, practice nurse, health promotion practitioner, healthy living or community food worker and...

CFHS is holding 2 one-day events for community food enterprises interested in finding out more about social enterprise - Getting Down to Business will take place on 7 February 2008 in Edinburgh, and 28 February 2008 in Inverness. Getting Down to Business will give participants an opportunity to find out more about social enterprises from the experts - community food initiatives running successfully as social enterprises and key agencies that provide support...

The Food and Health Alliance conference is to be held in Edinburgh on 5 February 2008.  Abstract submissions are encouraged around the following themes by 14 December 2007: infant nutrition (0-2 age group) plus maternal nutrition; creating healthy places/food int the public sector; the food chain, including local, sustainable food; adults in later life; food access; and reducing inequalities. The following link can be used to submit an abstract: http://fhaconference.delegatemanager.com For further information...

Comic Relief has announced that the next application deadline for grants over £5,000 is 29th February 2008. Grants are being offered through six programme areas:  young people; older people; mental health; refugees and asylum seekers; domestic violence; and disadvantaged communities. The grants programme is open to registered charities and constituted community and voluntary groups. Grants are made for between one and three years More information is available at http://www.comicrelief.com/apply-for-a-grant/uk/

As we are all aware, succeeding in making Scotland healthier depends on contributions from many partners including the NHS, local authorities and the community and voluntary sector. The contribution of the community and voluntary sector was fully emphasised at a recent national event held on the subject organised by the Scottish Government where Kay Barton, Deputy Director, Health Improvement Strategy, Public Health and Wellbeing Directorate at the Scottish Government, said, “The...

A scoping study commissioned by CFHS looking at the potential for greater collective activity amongst a number of key community food initiatives in east-central Scotland is now available to download from the Policy and Planning section of the Publications Library. As well as continuing to work with the food co-op networks involved in the study, there has also been a meeting to explore any implications for Glasgow and it is...

The Food Train, a local and voluntary charity organisation which provides grocery shopping home delivery services for elderly, housebound and disabled people across Dumfries and Gallowy has had its support to customers dropped by Tesco in Stranraer. Previously they had filled customers orders so that they were ready and bagged up for Food Train volunteers to deliver. Michelle McCrindle, Food Train Chief Executive, told the Guardian that the store managers...

A Taste for Independence is now available to download from the Business and Project Development section of the Publications Library. This guide discusses the experiences of 21 organisations throughout Scotland who work with a range of vulnerable groups, including people with learning disabilities, young carers and people experiencing homelessness. All these groups used food activities such as cooking, food shopping and budgeting to help people develop their independent living skills....

Edition 41 of Fare Choice, our quarterly newsletter, is now available to download from the Our Newsletters section of the publications library. Also new in the publications library are the notes from our roundtable discussion on 0-5 Children and Parents, including infant nutrition.

In the last edition (40) of Fare Choice we featured East Lothian Roots and Fruits in a Take Stock article. We let you know that they were soon to be featured on BBC's Beechgrove Garden. Filming was completed in June, which was lots of fun, and the programme was aired on 4 July. If you would like to watch their feature, please visit www.bbc.co.uk/scotland and then go the secion title...

Issue 40 of our quarterly newsletter Fare Choice and Issue 4 of Food Matters,  our update on developments in food, health and homelessness in Scotland, are now available to download from the Our Newsletters section of the Publications Libary.

CFHS is running participatory appraisal training in Dumfries from 17-21 September 2007. Anyone involved with community-based food and health work in Scotland can apply to attend this free course. Participatory Appraisal (PA) is a family of approaches and methods which enable local people to explore issues that are important to them. The methods are very visual and help to get people involved in decision making processes and are particularly useful to...

Primetime is a new funding initiative for the over 50s that the Big Lottery Fund in Scotland is running in Partnership with BBC Scotland. Primetime puts the power of making decisions about National Lottery money into the hands of people in Scotland. Six grants will be awarded for projects voted for by viewers across Scotland which will benefit people aged 50 years or over. Funding between £100,000 and £500,000 is available...

Fruitful Participation: involving people in food and health work is a new publication from Community Food and Health (Scotland) which gives a snapshot of how getting people involved in decision-making around food and health issues can be enjoyable, democratic, empower those involved and make a difference.  The publication discusses approaches and methods that are effective at involving people and that are different to some of the more traditional consultation and...

Would you like to know more about providing more adapted, varied and nutritious meals for the homeless people who access your services? Would you like to be able to provide basic nutritional advice to your clients? Are you keen to find out more about the links between food and well-being for your work with vulnerable people? We are currently promoting a series of REHIS (Royal Environmental Health Institute for Scotland) Elementary...

CFHS has put together a briefing sheet giving information about the services and key contacts that the main Scottish banks offer to projects using social enterprise approaches. It was produced because people working in community food initiatives using a social enterprise approach said they were finding it difficult to find local banking services that met their needs. This briefing sheet is available from the Business and Project Development section of...

The Community Food and Health (Scotland) small grant scheme is now open. Grants from £500 to £3000 are available to groups and agencies in Scotland who wish to improve access to, and take up of a healthy, varied and balanced diet. Please visit our funding section for more information on eligibility and how to apply. Closing date for applications is 5 pm on Friday 29 June 2007.    

The Food Standards Agency is inviting applications for grants of up to £10,000 to support local food initiatives. The scheme is open to local authorities, food liaison groups and trading standards regional groups and their equivalents in all UK countries. More information and application forms can be found at www.food.gov.uk/enforcement/laresource/lahngrants/ The closing date for applications is Friday 20 April 2007.

The next deadline for grant applications to the Lloyds TSB Foundation for Scotland Standard Grants Programme is 21 May 2007. The Foundation makes grants totalling approximately £8 million each year to recognised charities in Scotland which are focused on improving the quality of life and creating equality of information for people in Scotland. For more information visit www.fundingthefuture.org.uk  

The Big Lottery Fund and ITV have announced a bigger People's Millions public voting competition for 2007. Ninety grants of £80,000 are available this year, including awards to the most popular runners-up in each ITV region. The entry deadline for applications for funding to be awarded in 2007 is 12 pm on 17 May 2007. For further information and details of how to apply visit www.thepeoplesmillions.org.uk        

Supply, Standards and Strategy was an international conference, held in London on 15 February 2007, examining how to make public sector food and its supply systems more sustainable. A note of the reflections of the Scottish participants at this event is now available to download from the Conferences and Networking section of the Publications Library.

The latest edition of our (redesigned) quarterly newsletter, Fare Choice, is now available to download from the Publications Library.

Grassroots organisations considering themselves to be at the forefront of tackling social disadvantage are invited to enter the Centre for Social Justice Awards 2007.  The Awards reward and celebrate grassroots organisations doing exceptional work in tackling poverty and advancing social justice.  This year 8 awards will be available.  Six will be for grassroots groups working in the UK.  The winning groups will each receive £5000 from the prize fund.  The...

In September 2006, the food, health and homeless initiative at Community Food and Health (Scotland) commissioned Blake Stevenson to undertake a baseline study of food, health and homelessness projects, programmes and initiatives in Scotland.  The report of this study is now available to download from the Policy and Planning section of the Publications Library. For more information on our food, health and homeless initiative or to sign up for Food Matters....

As part of our work on food, health and homelessness we are currently offering opportunities for practitioners, policy-makers and all those concerned with this topic to share and learn from each other Scotland-wide. We are currently piloting a series of 3 training events entitled ‘Sharing around food, health and homelessness’ for all those keen to make practical developments to their food work with homeless people. The first of this pilot series...

CFHS recognises the need for greater contribution from those directly involved in delivering and supporting community based food activity to its steering group. We are currently recruiting for three community representatives on our steering group which meets quarterly. If you think you can contribute to the development and work of CFHS, download and complete the application form and return to us by 23 April 2007. If you would like to discuss the community representative...

Notes from the roundtable discussion on our work with local retailers with regard to the Scottish Grocer's Federation HealthyLiving programme is now available to download from the Catering and Retailing section of the publications library or contact Alice or Rita to receive a hard copy.

The report of Community Food and Health (Scotland)'s networking conference, Bridges, held at the Apex Hotel in Dundee on 28 September 2006, is now available to download from the Conferences and Networking section of the Publications Library or contact Alice or Rita if you would like a hard copy sent to you.  

Community Food and Health (Scotland) receives frequent requests for placements from colleges and universities that would like to place their students in community food initiatives to gain experience of working in a community food Initiative (CFI) and complete a piece of course work or research.   Usually when we receive these requests we struggle to find suitable placements in the time frame available.   Requests come from a variety of institutions and courses, for...

Trellis is the new Scottish national charity that supports therapeutic gardening projects. Based in Perth, Trellis will run regional networking events, an annual conference in March, and advice and support services, as well as promoting the field of therapeutic horticulture.  Trellis is based at Bell's Cherrybank Centre, Perth, PH2 0PF. Tel 01738 624 348; email hortictherapy@yahoo.co.uk.

Thank you to everyone who contributed to finding a new name for the Scottish Community Diet Project. After ten years we have taken the decision to change our name to Community Food and Health (Scotland). Whilst the old name was well known, it was felt by some to be vague and to others misleading. During the search for a new name, amongst the many suggestions received, none retained either the word 'diet'...

The review of the Scottish Diet Action Plan has now been completed by a distinguished panel, chaired by Prof Tim Lang. Why not give your opinion of the review, whether it reflects your impressions, concerns, or aspirations, on our new discussion forum?