Bristol Local Food Fund launches new campaign to raise £150,000 by the end of 2024
Let's end food insecurity in our city. Today marks the beginning of Bristol Local Food Fund’s new ambitious campaign to raise £150,000 by the end of 2024. With 1 in 12 Bristolians experiencing food insecurity and rising, it’s an urgent issue for everyone in our city.New ambitious campaign
With our volunteer team, BLFF raises funds for community food projects that are tackling food insecurity and supporting food justice. We give all decision-making power to people with lived experience of food insecurity, which we think is the most empowering and effective way to make Bristol a city of food justice.
Growing our supporters
Our new campaign aims to grow our base of committed supporters. We know that Bristol is filled with supporters of food justice; people who share BLFF’s vision of a city where everyone can access nutritious, affordable, and culturally appropriate food. Today we’re appealing to those people to become a regular supporter of Bristol Local Food Fund and help lay the foundations for a city of food justice, tackling food insecurity at its core and fostering more equitable lives for all Bristolians. Watch our new campaign video to hear from community food projects, learn more about our impact and future plans.
About Bristol Local Food Fund, describing the funds raised so far, the community food projects in Bristol that have been funded, the potential impacts of more funding and the intention to raise £150,000 in 2024.
Rewards from Bristol’s food community
And for those special food justice pioneers, we’ve added a little sweetener!
For anyone becoming a regular supporter of BLFF who can commit to a minimum donation of £10 per month, we’re offering a slew of fabulous foodie gift vouchers from the likes of Harts Bakery, Nadu, Kal Dosa, Pizzarova, Hugo’s Greengrocers, Gingerbeards Preserve, Ah-Mas Dumplings, Better Food, Eatchu, Forest Bakery and KASK.
"We are really excited to be working with The Bristol Local Food Fund. We are always looking for projects to support and this gives us confidence the funds are going where they are needed the most. With lots of small businesses working together we can join forces and make a real difference.” Laura Hart, Owner of Harts Bakery
The BLFF team hope that this support from Bristol food businesses will inspire more from Bristol's food scene and wider business community to support food justice in the city.
“Bristol Local Food Fund needs to step up our impact for Bristol’s communities, and becoming a regular supporter can make all the difference. Bristol’s amazing food businesses, even in tough times, are showing us that food justice is something we can all achieve together.” Michael Lloyd-Jones, Founder of Bristol Local Food Fund
Funded projects
Our previous crowdfunding campaign raised £60,000, with 50 food businesses offering rewards. We distributed that funding to 18 community food projects at the end of 2022, with impressive results. Funding enabled Lush Greens in Hengrove to grow 5,431 portions of fresh veg (or 1,713 kg) which was donated directly to two local food banks to increase access to local grown vegetables for service users.
Meanwhile, Incredible Edible used a BLFF grant at the Secret Garden in Avonmouth to build a water collection and irrigation system, making the project more sustainable and enabling more food to be grown for the community for years to come.
Power to the people
To ensure that funding is most effective and accessible, BLFF gives decision-making power to people with first-hand experience of food insecurity. We use “participatory grantmaking”, instead of traditional grantmaking, where grant givers set the criteria and make all the decisions. Empowering those who come from and live in communities that don’t have reliable access to nutritious, affordable and culturally appropriate food is core to BLFF’s vision.
In the coming months, Bristol Local Food Fund will also be distributing £100,000 in funding raised by the incredible Anti-Banquet event, led by Josh Eggleton and several leading Bristol chefs. The fundraising event took place in February 2024 at Ashton Gate, turning the idea of a charity banquet on its head and received support from many of Bristol’s largest employers.
You can follow BLFF’s progress with the next round of funding on our website and social channels, and become a supporter with a fantastic foodie reward by going to the donate page.
By becoming a supporter of BLFF you’ll be helping us to reach our fundraising goal of £150,000, fighting against food insecurity, and make Bristol a city of food justice.
To become a regular supporter today please follow the donation link. And if you can’t commit to a regular donation, you can make a one-off donation too.
