About Family Food Action

How FFA supports children and families:

Each week, we collect donated food and toiletries from communities in the North Bristol area through a network of neighbourhood volunteers, from collection boxes in our partner supermarkets, Sainsbury’s and the Co-op, and from donors Hobbs House Bakery. After collection, donations are taken to a sorting hub for allocation to our community partners who work directly with families and children in poverty. (see below)

We also collect financial donations which are used to source bulk fresh produce, fruit, vegetables, eggs and dairy products, from local suppliers for delivery to our partners.

We maintain communication between food and financial donors, community partners and the families they support through partner-liaison volunteers and local press and social media. This strengthens links between more affluent and less advantaged neighbourhoods, generates conversations about food poverty and raises awareness of local inequalities in access to food.

Who FFA donates to:

FFA community partners are chosen on the following basis:

  • They are organisations based in areas of high deprivation in Bristol
  • They have strong links with their local community, and a trusted record of work with children and families in their area
  • They run food projects that aim to address food inequality through improving access to nutritious, healthy produce
  • Their food programmes are part of wider action to build long-term relationships with local families and strengthen local community.

Through Food Club organisations, it costs just £1 a year for a family to become a member of the scheme. Members are able to purchase for £5.00 a bag of food and toiletry items every week worth approx. £30 – £35; the £5.00 charge to families supports the cost of running the scheme. Unlike Food Banks, recipients do not need to be referred by the local authority or through the Trussell Trust.

Our partners distribute weekly donated and purchased food to families in need. Our current partners, who all serve families in areas of high deprivation and food insecurity in Bristol, are The Vench Adventure Playground in Lockleaze, Ashley East Central Family Hub in St Werburghs, Southmead Family Hub, Felix Road Adventure Playground, Easton, and May Park Primary school, Easton. In 2024, we also added Oasis Food Pantry Lawrence Weston/ Shirehampton, St Nichs food club (St Nicholas of Tolentino church in St Judes) and St Werburgh’s Community Centre to our list of partners. We supply them with fresh fruit and vegetables and fresh milk through our supplier Dole. We have also made grants to a number of schools and Evergreen School BS5 is being funded to provide healthy snacks for KS2 primary school children at breaktime for a second year.

Food donations to the Vench and Felix Road are also used to make packed lunches and meals for the children and families during school holidays and at playgroups/ afterschool clubs.

FFA Food donations are usually complemented by supplies purchased from Felix (formerly FareShare) by our partners; Felix is a charity which distributes surplus food from across the food industry.

How FFA was started.

During the first national Covid 19 lockdown, groups of neighbours started supporting the vital work to maintain contact with families who were going to be badly affected by the lockdown and school closures, through donating food and essential supplies.

A number of streets in the Bishopston, Clifton, Cotham, Horfield, Redland and St Andrew’s areas collected donations which were taken to primary schools in areas of deprivation in North Bristol.