From Local Food Support to Feeding Gloucestershire

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Our involvement in Feeding Gloucestershire grew from something much more local.

During the pandemic we were supporting the Freezer of Love and community pantry at the Arkell Centre in Forest Green. At the same time, food projects were springing up across Gloucestershire as communities responded to increasing need. Through our own work we were meeting more of the people and organisations involved and began to explore whether there would be value in connecting some of that activity.

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Community Roots was also part of a national Community Organising network, where conversations were taking place about the growing impact of food poverty. Andrew Forsey from Feeding Britain joined one of those discussions, which led us to connect with Andrew and with Will Mansell from Grace Network/The Long Table. Those conversations gradually developed into the idea of bringing organisations across Gloucestershire together.

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The first Feeding Gloucestershire meeting took place in July 2021, hosted by Bishop Rachel of Gloucester, with around 20 organisations coming together from across the county. They included community hubs, food redistribution projects, food banks and local councils. The idea was not to create another organisation for the sake of it. It was to give people already doing the work an opportunity to meet one another, understand what was happening in different communities, share what they were learning and explore where working together might make things stronger.

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As those relationships developed we also connected with the Gloucestershire Good Food Revolution and the Gloucestershire Food and Farming Partnership, opening up conversations about how community food activity could sit within a wider approach to food across the county.

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A second countywide meeting led to the formation of a steering group, and people involved began developing a shared vision for what Feeding Gloucestershire could become.

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Community Roots continued to support that development, with Deb eventually being seconded as Network Coordinator and working with Feeding Gloucestershire as it developed from an emerging network towards becoming an independent Charitable Incorporated Organisation.

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Although Deb returned to Community Roots in 2024, the relationships and experience have continued to shape our food work. Deb remains involved in the wider local food system, including through Nourishing Gloucester and the Cheltenham Food Board. What began with practical food support in one community therefore developed into something much wider.

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We listened to what was happening locally, connected with other people doing similar work and supported relationships to develop. From those relationships grew a network that could bring community food organisations together across Gloucestershire.