Feeding Resilience in Telford & Wrekin: More Than Food

Sometimes resilience starts with something as simple as a shared meal, a packet of seeds, or learning what to do with a bag of vegetables you’ve never cooked before.

Over the past six months, the Feeding Resilience Pilot in Telford & Wrekin has been quietly building something powerful through cooking, growing, sharing food, and creating spaces where people feel welcome.

What started as a community-led pilot has reached around 200 people directly, with the impact spreading much further through shared meals, food growing, community events, conversations, and local networks.

But behind the numbers are real stories about confidence, connection, and the reality many people face when it comes to food.

Food insecurity isn’t always visible

The questionnaires completed during the pilot revealed something important: food insecurity is often hidden and constantly shifting.

While 56% of participants said getting food is “mostly okay”, many also shared that some weeks are much harder than others. Around 31% said getting food is sometimes hard, and the same number said it is often hard.

The biggest pressure by far was affordability.

• 81% said food prices affect what they buy

• 75% identified cost as a major barrier

• 56% said they try to make food stretch

• 25% worry about food running out

What emerged clearly is that this is not simply about access to food. It is about energy, confidence, transport, time, and knowing how to navigate food systems that have changed dramatically over the years.

As one participant explained:

“Shopping locally can be difficult — it’s time, access, and confidence.”

Another shared:

“I still haven’t been to the community supermarket… I’m not quite sure how it works. I think once you’ve done it once, it would be fine.”

These are the kinds of barriers that often go unseen, but they matter deeply.

Learning by doing works

One of the strongest messages from the pilot was that people want practical, hands-on support.

• 69% said they like learning by doing

• 56% wanted to learn more about food

• 50% said they would try growing food with support

• 81% wanted to eat healthier

Importantly, nobody said they did not want learning support.

The pilot responded by creating welcoming, informal opportunities to take part. Five cookery sessions were delivered, including family sessions, where participants cooked affordable meals together and took food home to feed up to four people.

Community fire food events in Dawley brought together 60–70 people around shared food and conversation.

Growing activities included the creation of a mobile seed library, re-established raised beds in Brookside, and a new growing space at the Sambrook Centre in Stirchley.

For many participants, this wasn’t just about food. It was about rebuilding confidence.

“It’s given me the confidence to try new things… I didn’t know what to do with some of the food before, but now I think, ‘Okay, I can use this.’”

Food resilience is community resilience

One of the most important outcomes of the pilot has been the connections created between people, organisations, growers, community spaces, and local food initiatives.

The project helped establish the new Telford Allotments Partnership, bringing together growers and community organisations to share knowledge and explore ways of redistributing surplus food back into local communities.

The pilot also worked alongside community groceries to help reduce stigma and improve confidence around accessing affordable food and being able to cook with what is available.

This matters because resilience is not built by emergency responses alone. It grows through relationships, skills, confidence, and community ownership.

The questionnaire findings reflected this clearly:

• 63% said food affects their health

• 63% said food affects their energy

• 44% said they want to feel more secure about food in the future

What people wanted was not charity. They wanted support, skills, connection, and the confidence to participate.

Small interventions, lasting impact

The Feeding Resilience Pilot has shown that relatively small, community-led interventions can create meaningful and lasting change.

The project has left behind more than activities. It has created infrastructure, relationships, volunteer networks, growing spaces, educational resources, and stronger local partnerships that will continue beyond the funding period.

Perhaps most importantly, it has shown that people are eager to engage when support feels practical, local, welcoming, and rooted in real life.

Food resilience is not just about feeding people today.

It is about helping communities feel more connected, capable, and secure tomorrow.

Full Case Study can be found on the Resources Page