Manchester Food Futures has decided to put together a 'strategic bid' of up to £300,000, in support of the community and voluntary sector, to the new  £50 Local Food Fund, which is part of the BIG Lottery's Changing Spaces programme.

Food Futures has commissioned Creative Local Solutions (i.e. me and Fraser How, who is the creative genius half of CLS) to develop the bid, and work is commencing. Our approach to the bid is as follows:

Phase 1 - A Strategic Approach

Phase 1 of this proposed work aims to identify what is working well, and where there are gaps, in terms of current progress towards the Food Futures Strategy. This will then be analysed in relation to the Local Food Fund to reveal possible areas for effective use of this fund to progress the Strategy.

Added to this will be a consultation with Food Futures, and stakeholders, that will give the information needed in order to make a reasonable appraisal of the options available for applications to the Local Food Fund. This will consist of:

• Detailed consultation meetings with Food Futures and key stakeholder organisations;
• A more general internet survey, targeted at all Manchester Food Futures stakeholders in the voluntary and community sector. 

Included as part of the assessment will be a brief appraisal of Open Strategy and how it relates to the BIG Lottery approach.

Stage 1 will conclude with an options appraisal, with a written report and consultation with Food Futures to decide upon the most strategically useful approach to the fund.


Food Futures Strategic Review day
An additional benefit will be that this report will be a useful resource for Food Futures prior to the review day in June.


Phase 2 - Raising Money from the Local Food Fund to progress the Strategy

Phase 2 of the proposed work will involve the putting together of one or more bids to the Local Food Fund, to bring money into the community and voluntary sector. Whilst the details of the bid(s) cannot be specified now, prior to completion of the first part of the work, the following ideas may be investigated within the options appraisal:

• A collaborative bid with Food Futures as the lead partner, for a significant amount that will deliver considerable progress towards an identified part of the Strategy.
• Several smaller bids, building on projects/collaborations that exist in the sector, to further the Strategy in more diverse ways.
• Supporting particular organisations to apply for funds to support their work, that in turn is contributing to the Strategy.
• The creation of new collaborations or projects to deliver particular strategic outcomes, for example, the development of a social enterprise infrastructure, or the strengthening of voluntary and community sector food networks.

Depending upon the decisions made with Food Futures regarding the most appropriate ways forward, the second part of the work will include further consultation, strategic planning with groups, and workshops.

Any bid(s) made to the LFF is likely to be strong, and have a good chance of success, because:

• The Joint Health Unit is a reliable lead partner;
• It will build upon the existing Food Futures strategic work;
• Food Futures may be able to offer matching funding to the bid.

The main disadvantage for oganisations that  may want to be involved in this bid, is that  they will not get as big a slice of the pie as they would if they were making an individual application, so groups wishing to raise a significant amount of money i.e. to employ a worker, should probably consider making an application of their own (this does not exclude them from the FF bid).

This bid may be of interest to groups like Manchester Permaculture Network, who are actively educating, and supporting on the ground food growing projects in the City. In a scenario wherein Food Futures (led by the Joint Health Unit) is the lead partner in a bid to the Local Food Fund, being part of such a bid may be an opportunity to get access to funds, whilst at the same time avoiding the undesirable path of becoming incorporated.

There is a six-week turnaround period between Stage 1 and Stage 2 Local
Food Fund bids. We would aim therefore to submit any Stage 1 bid(s) in
June, with September as the date for submission of Stage 2 bid(s).


The Local Food Fund

See http://www.localfoodgrants.org for more information.

The fund was launched on March 17th 2008.

Main grants are available for up to £300,000, in order to fund projects that contribute to the following five themes:

• Growing food locally
  Allowing people the opportunity to grow food locally
  
  
• Celebrating cultural diversity
  Enabling communities to build knowledge and understanding of the cultural diversity of food
  
  
• Social enterprise
  Stimulating local economic activity through the development of social enterprises related to local food
  
  
• Skills and learning
  Creating opportunities for learning through volunteering, training and job creation
  
  
• Healthy eating, healthy living
  Promoting awareness of the links between food and healthy lifestyles