Award for Wandsworth’s work to improve access to good food

Wandsworth has won Most Improved Council in the 2024 Good Food Local London Awards.  

The awards are part of the annual Sustain London report which shines a light on each borough’s approach to food partnerships, household food insecurity and the wider food system. Sustain is an alliance for better food and farming.

The award comes after a string of initiatives to improve the accessibility and quality of food available to people in Wandsworth.

Deputy council leader Cllr Kemi Akinola went to receive the award from Sustain. She said: “I’m so pleased that this award recognises all the work that has been put in in Wandsworth to increase access to, and the nutritional value of, food and also the difference our Cost of Living support has made to refugees, children and elder people.

“Food is so important – it gives us life. I’ve long felt we should be higher on the Good Food London scorecard, and it’s really gratifying to see our efforts noticed on a London and national level.”

As part of its response to the Cost of Living crisis, Wandsworth has worked with local groups to give them the capacity to provide hot food to their communities, and has set up a network of community spaces, many of which provide food.

The council developed the Wandsworth Food Plan to find long-term solutions after research showed more than 14 per cent of residents experience food insecurity. And judges were particularly impressed with the Wandsworth School Food Strategy to ensure children can access healthy, nutritious food.

The Leader of Wandsworth Council, Simon Hogg, has visited local primary schools to learn more about how the School Food Strategy, and the Mayor’s of London’s free school meal funding, is making a difference. This includes trips to Earlsfield School, Sacred Heart and, today (March 1), Heathmere. 

Bella Driessen, Local Policy Coordinator at Sustain says: “In our twelfth year of writing this report, it is fantastic to see continued progress across the capital. Despite incredibly tight budgets, and grappling with the cost-of-living crisis, councils have shown they are committed to making food healthier, more sustainable, and more accessible for their residents.”

 

Notes to Editors

The Schools Food Strategy includes free breakfasts in primary schools partnership with the charity Magic Breakfast, food vouchers during the school holidays for children on free school meals, tougher specification around the school meals contract to focus more on quality, health and sustainability and more education around food, cooking and growing.

In addition children are now automatically enrolled for free school meals if they are eligible. This enables schools to get the maximum pupil premium funding that they are entitled to and has been made possible by investment by the council in the Low-Income Family Tracker (LIFT) system.

Ensuring children are enrolled for free school meals also enables families to claim other benefits, such as free holiday playschemes, free swimming lessons and free school uniforms.