Our Access to Good Food Network (AtGF) is based around the idea of a “Learning Partnership”; promoting the co-design of community-led projects.
Looking beyond food insecurity the AtGF network works to ensure food resilience for everyone across Winchester, with projects recognising the various personal, social or financial barriers of accessing good food. Work on the AtGF network was initiated due to the collaboration during the COVID-19 pandemic, but formalised following our Access to Good Food Study. Our network is based upon an ethos of :
- Increasing a dignity promoting approach throughout the Network’s work; decreasing feelings of stigma and increasing agency
- Increasing collaboration between partnership organisations
- More successful solutions, which are well-used because they are actions which are based on evidence from the community voice, and not on assumptions of what the community needs
- Increase in community led projects which offer affordable and sustainable
- An increase in solutions to that aren’t crisis management but are developed and designed from the ground upwards.
Our AtGF network currently has 40 members; representing community food projects, organisations that support people experiencing food insecurity, academics and public health professionals. We welcome additional members to the network, especially those with lived-experiences of food insecurity who are also welcome to contribute to the social inclusion partnership (see below); please email ATGF@winchesterfoodpartnership.org.uk to find out more or to be added to the distribution list.
Our key projects, past and present are detailed below:
Access to Food Study
In 2020 we conducted a study with community members to help us understand barriers that people faced in accessing good food, and in particular issues accessing the various community food projects around the District. We undertook 10 focus groups, with 80 participants; with an age range of 20-95, in both city and rural locations. A number of barriers were identified:
- Awareness – awareness of what support/projects were available, and who could use them and how often was a key frustration.
- Asking – people didn’t know who to ask for help, and were embarrassed of having to ask, feeling judged – were key reasons people were reluctant to use services available.
- Access – opening times, locations, personal barriers were all problems highlighted in people being able to access community food projects
- Availability – the disparity of available support/projects across the District was problematic especially for people without their own transport.
The findings of our study were used in our submission to the 2023 All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) Call for Evidence in regard to Cash or food? Exploring effective responses to destitution. Click HERE to see our submission and the Final Inquiry Report.
We thank Dr Martina Hutton for her support during and after this study; especially in supporting us in developing better ways to incorporate genuine co-creation and better community engagement into our work. The evidence from participants instigated a major change in how one project ran; the food bank incorporated a policy of self-selection of food for it’s clients across all of it’s food hubs. We continue to build on the insights and ideas that came out of this study, especially through the Social Inclusion Partnership (Food Resilience Group).
Social Inclusion Partnership – Food Resilience Group
In 2023, Winchester City Council initiated the Social Inclusion Partnership (SIP) and we lead the Food resilience work; looking beyond the traditional food insecurity work and especially focused on engaging with people who don’t fall into the tradition idea of people experiencing food insecurity.
Other work undertaken by the wider SIP include projects focused on improving digital inclusion and health inequalities.
Our current project is focused on improving the uptake of Healthy Start scheme.
Winchester Healthy Start
Our current project Unpacking Health
The second stage of the project will work with people eligible for the scheme to understand how best to improve awareness, uptake of the scheme and support people in making the application.
Hampshire Food Alliance
We are members of the Hampshire Food Alliance (HFA); building an inclusive, stigma-free pathways for early support and prevention of food insecurity.
The HFA is a partnership that brings together different agencies and sectors to tackle food insecurity and build a sustainable food culture. The ambition is for Hampshire to be a place where no one worries about their next meal, and emergency food assistance is a thing of the past. For our communities to thrive in an environment that promotes good health, boosts the local economy, and is kind to our planet.
Below are a number of recent reports from the Alliance:
- From Awareness to Action Report – Report Summary Nov 2025
- HFA Workshop Summary – Workshop summary report Nov 2024
The Hampshire Food Alliance is a member of Feeding Britain.
