Funding Available for Remote Healthy Eating Projects

The Community Food Initiatives (CFI) is a healthy eating programme funded by safefood.  The programme runs over a three year cycle and its purpose is to provide people with the knowledge and skills to provide healthy food options for themselves and their families.  safefood, as a North / South body established under the Good Friday Agreement, provides CFI funding to 5 organisations in Northern Ireland and 9 organisations in the Republic of Ireland.  The programme is managed by SECAD Partnership on behalf of safefood.

The 14 organisations are referred to as CFI Leaders and since March 2020, the CFI Leaders have endeavoured to find new ways of delivering the healthy eating message and involving people in their projects.  As the transition was so successful, safefood has decided to invite organisations who are not involved in the Community Food Initiative as CFI Leaders to apply for funding and to deliver their own CFI at Home Project.

CFI at Home

safefood is inviting organisations who are not CFI Leaders to apply for funding to deliver a project, in their own local area, that meets the criteria of the CFI at Home Programme.  The purpose of the CFI at Home Programme is to support families with children up to the age of 12 years in their own homes to develop their cooking skills and healthy eating habits.  Projects could include all or some of the following elements:

• Learning how to prepare & cook a recipe
• Attending an online cookery session
• Online support groups for sharing ideas and tips
• Online interactive talks delivered by a dietitian or registered nutritionist

safefood Resources

The resources needed to plan and deliver a CFI at Home project can be found on the safefood website at www.safefood.eu.  A sample of these resources are summarised in the attached CFI at Home Resources document along with the links and include:

• 101 Square Meals Recipe Book

• Setting up a Home Routine

• How to involve kids in the kitchen

• Food Pyramid and The Eatwell Guide

• safefood START campaign

• Handwashing

• Family Meal Plans for 3 Weeks

• Food Safety

• Healthy Snack Ideas

• Family Budgeting

• Screen Time Limits

• safefood Social Media

• Old-school Active Play

Funding

Interested organisations can apply for funding up to a maximum of €1,500 or £1,300 to deliver a project in their local area.

Applicant Organisation Criteria

Organisations must:

• Be community-led organisations with a legal status and appropriate governance structure
• Be experienced in the management of public funds which support social inclusion initiatives
• Currently employ and manage full time professionals with community development experience
• Have experience of working with the target group identified
• Be supporting other broader community initiatives through their work
• Provide supports across communities irrespective of age, race or creed

Preparing an Application

If you wish to make an application, please email [email protected] and we will send you out the application template and supporting information.  If you have any queries or would like to discuss any element of your proposal please contact:

Sinéad Conroy

SECAD Partnership CLG

T: 00 353 (0)87 353 3606

E: [email protected]

Closing date for application

While there is no closing date, funding is limited so interested organisations are advised to apply as soon as possible.