Who are we? What do we do? What do we want to change?
Bite-size:
The Children’s Food Trust is a new community interest company working with the School Food Trust, the registered charity and specialist advisor to Government on school meals, children’s food and related skills.
Both organisations share the vision that all children are able to have the balanced diet, cooking skills and food education that will help them reach their full potential.
We’ve set up the Children’s Food Trust because our work is growing so quickly. Thanks to our years of experience of improving school lunchtimes for children and setting up the country’s largest network of healthy school cooking clubs; and to our internationally-recognised research programme, our support is now in demand on many other children’s food issues.
Our new website will be up and running in the Spring at www.childrensfoodtrust.org.uk with more information about the new areas we’re working in.
The full plate:
Creating the Children’s Food Trust is the next step for our successful national charity, the School Food Trust.
Established in 2005, the School Food Trust began work as a non-departmental public body for the then Department of Education and Skills (replaced by the Department for Children, Schools and Families and subsequently by the current Department for Education (DfE).
The Government announced new legal standards for school food in England in May 2006 and we were asked to lead their national implementation. The national standards now make sure that the average school lunch offers the right mix of energy and nutrients for growing children, and limits their exposure to sugary, fatty, and salty foods.
Since then, our experts have advised Government at both national and local level on a wide range of other robust – but deliverable – ways of improving food in schools. Our board members bring to the table a whole range of perspectives – from food suppliers to medical professionals and public health specialists, along with experts in cooking, marketing and management. Our staff includes ex-caterers and teachers, as well as experts in child nutrition, research, school food finance and design.
We work directly with local leaders and services, thousands of schools, caterers, parents and many others to help implement the changes needed and to find practical solutions that will help schools improve their meals service day-to-day.
And the good work doesn’t stop at the end of the school day. Our Let’s Get Cooking programme has established the biggest national network of healthy cooking clubs for children and families with support from a £20m grant from the Big Lottery fund. This network has already reached more than 1.5 million people with healthy cooking activities, and more than half of those taking part say they eat a healthier diet as a result of learning to cook.
Let’s Get Cooking also provides training, resources and support to help others set up healthy cooking programmes for people of all ages, and is running some of the first projects in the country chosen to receive Health Lottery funding from the People’s Health Trust to improve health in local communities.
The School Food Trust is also one of only seven organisations in the country to hold a 2011 Health Promotion and Community Wellbeing Organisation and Partnership award from the Royal Society for Public Health.
The next course:
The Children’s Food Trust is our new community interest company (CIC) working with the School Food Trust. It means we can now support even more people who are trying to give children a better diet for a better start in life – whether that’s through our research and nutrition services and advice on policy-making; our expertise on using children’s food to improve public health; our practical help for businesses and organisations improving food for children; or our skills in engaging children with good food and cooking.
The Children’s Food Trust is also launching its first Children’s Food Conference, which will take place on 7th March 2012.
We work with organisations or groups of individuals that share our vision for children.
The Children’s Food Trust CIC Community Interest number: 7449255
School Food Trust Registered charity number: 1118995
