MS, Cabinet Secretary for Social
Justice, Trefnydd and Chief Whip: As part of our commitment to
prioritise support for people affected by food insecurity, today
I am announcing a further £1.7 million this year towards tackling
food poverty. This additional funding builds on the £2.8
million allocated already this financial year by the Welsh
Government to help alleviate and tackle the root causes of food
poverty and comes on top of £22 million allocated to support food
poverty since 2019.
The money will include:
- Additional emergency food aid support, distributed to local
authorities, to help strengthen existing community food
initiatives, including a focus on activity that helps to address
the root causes of food poverty. Organisations that might wish to
benefit from this support should contact their local authority to
discuss.
- Funding to help support cross-sector food partnerships in
each local authority area in Wales. These multi-agency
partnerships are helping to understand and address local need,
tackling the root causes of food poverty by maximising the
effectiveness of projects and ensuring that resources are
targeted at areas of greatest need.
The additional funding will be distributed through the WLGA to
local authorities in Wales in the coming weeks.
The money will also include funding for Fareshare Cymru to
support the distribution and promotion of their foodbanks network
this winter and the purchase of food distribution equipment to
ensure that FareShare Cymru can continue to meet the immediate
and longer-term needs of community food organisations. It
will also support food education activities to help low-income
families struggling with the cost of food.
This statement is being issued during recess to keep Members
informed. Should Members wish me to make a further statement or
to answer questions on this when the Senedd returns I would be
happy to do so.
