Case Study
Restore Hope
Working with local families in Buckinghamshire to improve access to healthy food
(Above) Photo Credit: Christopher Hall
Fund and priority area: Strategic Fund – Environment: Access to healthy food
Who – Restore Hope is a charity with considerable land, where it grows fruit, vegetables and keeps chickens to support local families and individuals to improve their health, nutrition and social wellbeing.
What
A three-year grant of £180,000 was awarded in summer 2022. The aim of the funding was to increase the capacity of Restore Hope to grow sustainable and healthy food onsite through a skilled Estate Manager and Estate Development Officer. Through having the expertise of the Estate staff Restore Hope grow harvest and package fresh fruit, veg and eggs to local families experiencing food poverty. Staff and volunteers also deliver groups to improve wellbeing and horticultural skills in Restore Hope’s gardens and the wider farm estate.
In 2023/2024 Restore Hope provided:
- 17,464kgs of fresh food in 3,260 boxes to around 180 families bi-weekly
- 42 volunteers have helped with Foodlife, contributing 2,282 and building community knowledge around sustainable food growing.
(Above) Photo Credit: Christopher Hall
Family Support offered me a referral for a FoodLife parcel. I had been very isolated and was struggling, but I started coming in to pick and pack my food parcel which I loved. I brought my son and it’s so nice to show him where his food is coming from, farm fresh eggs and veg grown here at Restore Hope. The food makes me happy. It makes me feel more connected to the community and it’s a chance for my son and I to bond too.
Parent One
Restore Hope has partnered with Buckinghamshire special secondary schools who help to grow and harvest the fruit and veg; and with Mission Employable who bring young people with learning disabilities to package and deliver the food parcels.
Learning
- A key learning has been the benefit of enabling people in food poverty the choice to choose the food items for themselves, increasing family engagement in growing and reducing food waste.
- The site has been hit with various issues such as flooding, and the organisation has had to be resilient and creative in finding other ways of growing fresh food.
- Restore Hope will continue their work, contributing to the local food partnership and is planning a community hub in Amersham.
This group [Community Garden] teaches parents how to grow flowers and vegetables, improving wellbeing and practical skills and has meant I can fully immerse myself in a new hobby. I’ve even attempted to grow my own flowers and vegetables home. I look forward to those sessions and seeing our group members…I am now in a better place and have now started my journey to wellness and helping others. To pay it forward I have now become a volunteer for Restore Hope and I’m helping in a cooking course for other families at Restore Hope.
Parent Two
