Council’s aims to improve access to food and encourage sustainability

The Covid-19 Sustainable Food and Essential Items Grant Programme has been made possible by funding from the Department for Communities.

It follows on from emergency food support provided at the height of the pandemic and can be used to fund a range of initiatives including ‘grow your own’ schemes, community fridges, community gardens, nutritional cookery courses, luncheon clubs and breakfast clubs.

Encouraging community and voluntary organisations to apply, the Mayor, Councillor Richard Holmes, said: “This funding will make a positive impact in our local communities, allowing groups to secure grants of up to £2500 to help improve access to nutritious food and other essential supplies.

“Alongside this we want to develop activities and programmes that will foster good food practices, kitchen skills and reduce food waste, supporting our LiveSmart goals. It will empower our residents and build their skills and understanding around eating well in a more sustainable well which is better for our environment and can help to save money as well.”

To assist with the application process, online information workshops will take place via Zoom on Tuesday, September 21 at 11am and Thursday 30 at 7pm. Interested groups are encouraged to attend one of the sessions.

Council’s Community Development and Environmental Resource teams will be in attendance to provide advice to groups about developing their chosen project while it will also be an opportunity to exchange ideas with each other.

You can register your attendance by emailing [email protected]

To apply to the Covid-19 Sustainable Food and Essential Items Grant Programme go to http://causeway.eformz.info

Applications are open from now until Friday, October 15 at 12 noon.

A message from the Editor:

Thank you for reading this story on our website. While I have your attention, I also have an important request to make of you.

In order for us to continue to provide high quality and trusted local news on this free-to-read site, I am asking you to also please purchase a copy of our newspaper whenever you are able to do so.

Our journalists are highly trained and our content is independently regulated by IPSO to some of the most rigorous standards in the world. But being your eyes and ears comes at a price. So we need your support more than ever to buy our newspapers during this crisis.

With the coronavirus lockdown having a major impact on many of our local valued advertisers - and consequently the advertising that we receive - we are more reliant than ever on you helping us to provide you with news and information by buying a copy of our newspaper when you can safely.

You can also enjoy unlimited access to the best news from across Northern Ireland and the UK by subscribing to newsletter.co.uk

With a digital subscription, you can read more than five articles, see fewer ads, enjoy faster load times, and get access to exclusive newsletters and content. Visit https://www.newsletter.co.uk/subscriptions now to sign up.

Thank you