Sustainable Community Food Fund

The Sustainable Community Food Fund is now open to applications.

Overview of the Fund

Ipswich Borough Council, alongside the CAS (Community Action Suffolk) Community Food Partnership Team, is launching a grant program to support VCFSE groups working to strengthen and sustain local food systems across the borough. £90,000 is available to VCFSE groups.

The primary goal of this fund is to support community groups in enhancing the sustainability of local food systems. By focusing on resilience, innovation, and partnership, the fund aims to enable community organisations to create a stronger, more secure food system in Ipswich, benefiting local communities in the long term.

Small, medium and large grants are available to VCFSE organisations, on a first- come first-serve basis. Small grants are valued at under £500 and large grants over £5,000.

Projects should focus on improving processes, expanding access to nutritious and culturally appropriate food, and/or enhancing skills within the community to better support themselves.

Eligibility criteria

The core objective of the grant is to create sustainable, long-term benefits for local communities through food-related initiatives. Support will be provided to enable community food organisations to:

Become more self-sufficient, sustainable and resilient for the future
Streamline processes and ways of working to become more efficient
Further support clients out of hardship
Improve skills and knowledge in the community to support themselves
Create local solutions to improve food supply and logistics
Increase opportunities to offer a broader range of local, nutritious and culturally and dietary appropriate food

All VCFSE groups are eligible to apply, provided funding requested will focus on improving processes, expanding access to nutritious and culturally appropriate food, and/or enhancing skills within the community to better support themselves.