Another month has whizzed by! We’ve got plenty to update you on this month from new resources coming to Shropshire to tackle food insecurity, training sessions for frontline staff and volunteers to updates on local projects. There’s also the usual links to news and resources that we hope our network will find useful and interesting.
SFPA updates
-Money Counts Training Sessions- Free one-hour sessions for people who have brief
conversations with people about their money worries as part of their job/volunteering role
Tuesday 23rd November, 4pm-5pm
Tuesday 30th November 1.30pm-2.30pm
Following on from the launch of Shropshire’s ‘Worrying About Money?’ leaflet, The Shropshire Food Poverty Alliance and Citizens Advice Shropshire invite you to join them for a free one-hour training session for frontline staff and volunteers. These sessions are aimed at people who have brief conversations with people about their money worries as part of their job/volunteering role and are looking for some support and advice about how to approach these conversations. (Please note, these sessions will likely be unsuitable for people who have had substantial training on or experience with approaching conversations about money worries)
Book your free place here.
We were pleased to be part of the team that put together this successful funding big and are thrilled that more resources will be coming to Shropshire to help combat food insecurity in the county.
Find out more here.
-Spending review announcement
There was welcome news that the Holiday Activities and Food Programme will continue to be funded. However, there are concerns that the spending review has not done enough to prevent child food insecurity. The eligibility for Free School Meals and Healthy Start vouchers was not extended and currently nearly 50% of children experiencing food insecurity in England are still not eligible for Free School Meals or holiday clubs. Calls for a basic level of adequate, nutritious food to be made available to the most at-risk children continue, with fears that the recent cut to Universal Credit, a significant rise in food and fuel bills and the planned increase to National Insurance will see many families facing a very difficult winter.
Shropshire updates
-Advent For Others- an easy way to support Shropshire based charities
A new Shropshire initiative over the Christmas period, an advent calendar that allows you to support 24 local causes. More information available here.
-New community grocery store opening in Telford
A new community grocery store will be opening in Telford, there will be a £5 membership fee for a year and it will allow people to do a large food shop for £3 – saving around £30 off each shop. Full details here.
- New Shropshire Local Mobile service brings support closer to rural communities
Following the successful launch of Shropshire Local Ludlow, Shropshire Local is now adding a mobile service to rural communities across the county. Shropshire Local Mobile, which launched on the 8th of October 2021, will utilise some of the existing mobile library bus routes and will stop at locations across rural Shropshire. The mobile service will provide access to more remote and rural parts of the county without libraries or similar facilities, where residents may otherwise struggle to connect to council services. Full details here.
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