Food, Families, Futures

From 2015 to 2020, Children in Scotland developed and led an innovative and multi-award- winning project to address a major social issue: food insecurity and its links with wellbeing and education.

Launched in December 2015, the main aims of FFF were to:

Improve the health and wellbeing of children (and their families) living in and around the partnership areas, including increasing nourishment, reducing hunger and improving nutrition
Improve the engagement and confidence of parents in their children's learning, resulting in improved early development, social inclusion, aspiration and attainment of children
Increase support and commitment from the wider local community offering their time, energy and expertise to ensure the programme continues in years four, five and into the future, making it sustainable.

On completion of the project (June 2020), two summary reports were published:

Nourish to flourish – food, fun and family learning: A review of Children in Scotland’s partnership programme Food, Families, Futures (2015-2020)
By Shelagh Young
> Click here to download

This is an independent review of the project by freelance writer Shelagh Young, capturing the voices of participants, making sense of FFF's impact and pointing to the future of family food provision in Scotland.

Food, Families, Futures: Making positive change happen alongside families – A practical resource for strategic leads
By Elaine Kerridge
> Click here to download

Elaine's report gathers practical evidence and key learning from FFF, and is aimed at strategic leads.

We hope that both publications provide valuable learning and evidence for anyone who may wish to pioneer a similar project working with families and communities, and aimed at reducing food insecurity, in future.

Our role in the Food, Families, Futures programme maintained a careful balance of strategic and delivery work streams with a focus on identifying and developing partnerships; working with professionals and engaging with children and families, and the planning, delivery, monitoring and evaluation of the clubs. We brought community partners together to respond to local needs and strengths.

Children in Scotland led the project with support from the major UK food supplier Brakes. In the first phase, Business in the Community Scotland (BiTC Scotland) was our charity partner. We also gained additional funding from other charity funds including Cash Back For Kids and the People's Postcode Lottery.

We have supported after school and holiday provision projects across Scotland, including Glasgow, West Dunbarton, Perth and Kinross, East Lothian, Stirlingshire and Clackmannanshire.

Our policy team were involved in evaluation of Fife’s summer 2019 holiday provision, including consultation with children, young people, staff and parents.

More information on the project, including links to the FFF Handbook, summary report, blogs and our Principles & Guidelines for the Meaningful Participation and Engagement of Children and Young People, are available on this page.

If you would like any further information on this project, or to share your own related work, please contact: pppteam@childreninscotland.org.uk

Background

(The following was written in early 2016):

In Glasgow 38.8% of primary school pupils, and 29.8% of secondary pupils, are currently in receipt of free school meals (FSM), according to the Cost of School Holidays Literature Review (2015).

Ibrox and Dalmarnock have two of the highest rates of FSM entitlement in Scotland.

With Children in Scotland, BITC Scotland and Brakes collaborating, the project combines the knowledge, expertise, values and networks of the third sector, business and industry respectively.

The development of the Food, Families, Futures programme was supported by players of People's Postcode Lottery as an example of the significant impact that can be achieved when delivery and strategy come together to enact real life and long-term changes for a fairer and more prosperous society.

Following the successful pilots in Dalmarnock and Ibrox in the summer of 2016, academics at Northumbria University are undertaking an evaluation of summer holiday clubs across the UK, including FFF.

Early findings from the evaluation suggest that FFF increased reading gain amongst the children who took part.

For more information, please contact: Amy Woodhouse: awoodhouse@childreninscotland.org.uk