The Soil Association’s Food for Life programme has put together tips and ideas for schools and communities to help inspire the nation to get growing. The resources are available on the Soil Association website.
Author archives: Alice Baird
The state of Scottish volunteering
During 2024 Volunteer Scotland undertook several research projects about volunteering. Amongst its findings it concludes that volunteering is in crisis, the cost of living crisis is closing doors to volunteer participation and the demographic profile of Scotland’s volunteers is changing. The reports are available on the Volunteer Scotland website.
Nourishing the future: making healthy food accessible for every child
This Barnardo’s report draws on insights from children, young people, parents and Barnardo’s practitioners, and experts in child health and nutrition. It focuses on food insecurity and its impact on child health; barriers to eating healthily and provides and outlines polices across the UK. Nourishing the future is available on the Barnardo’s website.
The Food Conversation
The Food, Farming and Countryside Commission’s Food Conversations project hosted in-depth deliberations with over 75 communities across the UK. They have learned a great deal about what citizens want from their food system and produced a citizen manifesto. Reports from this project are available on the Food, Farming and Countryside Commission website
Cash first approaches in community food initiatives
Glasgow Community Food Network (GCFN) commissioned @delvecollab to work with a small group of people with experience of community food initiatives in Glasgow. They produced a Zine which highlights the challenges and imagines alternatives to make their recommendations a reality. The zine is available on the GCFN website.
Connecting you to your community
ALISS (A Local Information System for Scotland) is a national digital programme enabling people and professionals to find and share information on organisations, services, groups, resources and support in their local communities and online. It includes information about community groups such as community gardens and community cafes and pantries. You can find out about what’s …
How can we tell a more powerful story about health and health inequalities?
At this Health Foundation event, FrameWorks UK will share what they have learned from their work to support local authorities and their partners to put into practice their findings on how to talk about the building blocks of health. 20 May 2025 11:00 am to 12:15 pm Online via Zoom More information is available on Zoom.
Cross Party Group on Food
What to expect from the National Good Food Nation Plan and what it means for local authorities and health boards 14 May 2025 6pm Online and in-person If you would like to join this meeting, either in person or online, information and contact details are available on the Scottish Parliament website
Grow Your Own Fund
Community groups in Edinburgh are being invited to apply for funding (up to £5,000) from a £50,000 pilot scheme by the City of Edinburgh Council to establish new food growing projects. The closing date for applications is noon on 12 May. More information is available on the Edinburgh City Council website.

Big Lunch
The Eden Project’s Big Lunch is the UK’s annual get-together for neighbours and communities, with millions of people coming together for a few hours of friendship, food and fun on 7th and 8th of June. The Big Lunch website provides resources to help communities plan their community lunch and is also inviting home cooks to …