the ask

Maundy Relief is a charity supporting people facing poverty and hardship in local communities.

Food insecurity had become an increasing concern, with foodbanks, pantries and community initiatives working to support residents struggling to access affordable food.

While these services played a vital role, provision had largely developed organically rather than through a coordinated strategy.

Maundy Relief commissioned this work to review the local food landscape and develop practical recommendations to strengthen affordable food provision.

what we did

• Mapped the local affordable food system — identifying how foodbanks, pantries and community initiatives operate and connect.

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• Spoke directly with organisations providing food support — capturing frontline insight into the challenges and opportunities within the system.

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• Led a public consultation on food insecurity — designing and delivering a survey to capture residents’ experiences of accessing affordable food.

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• Ensured the consultation reached people often missing from formal engagement — working through community networks to hear from residents navigating food insecurity first-hand.

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• Reviewed national research, policy and practice — analysing evidence from across the UK to understand how other areas are responding to similar challenges.

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Design principle:

Strategies don’t create change.
People do — which is why they must be part of shaping them.

what changed

• The consultation achieved four times the council’s usual level of engagement — bringing significantly more community voices into the conversation.

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• The strategy was shaped by lived experience — ensuring priorities reflected the realities of people navigating food insecurity.

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• Local food providers formed a collaborative partnership — strengthening relationships and introducing shared systems and data to better support residents.

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• The findings influenced local decision-makers — including presentation to the Health and Wellbeing Board — and the council committed continuation funding for the next three years, to take the recommendations forward.

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Rose’s work was instrumental in securing three years of continuation funding, enabling the Affordable Food Plan to move into implementation.

Beccy, Operations Manager, Maundy Relief