How might cash-first approaches be implemented in community food initiatives?
Who We Are About This Zine
To Use This Zine
Reflections
We are a group of seven people based in Glasgow who believe in the right to healthy, nutritious food.
We believe that everyone is entitled to this, no matter who they are, where they’re from, or what their circumstances may be.
We have all accessed a variety of community food initiatives and are also food activists in different ways.
In the spirit of solidarity, we’ve come together to share our expertise to promote equity, food dignity, and advocate for a cash-first approach.
names are: Our names are:
Alvina Tamara Chibhamu
Bridget Crossan
Catherine
Milligan
Julie Tait
Natali Milligan
We worked with Paddy McKenna from delve who was commissioned by Glasgow Community Food Network as part of their wider cash-first project, funded by The Scottish Government.
We were asked to explore how cashfirst supports might be implemented in Community Food Initiatives, from our perspective.
This Zine was created as our chosen method to express our views on how community food projects can implement cash-first approaches.
Initially, we propose how to use this Zine and lay out our 5 key insights developed over five online sessions. They highlight the challenges that there may be when implementing a cash-first approach within community food initiative and we also present reimagined alternatives to these challenges.
We offer recommendations on how these could be made a reality and, finally, we have collated some links to resources and further information.
We hope that We hope that adds to and builds on the many conversations happening around cash-first and our key insights is used as a resource for any organisations wanting to create a fairer society and break down the barriers that some people may face when they seek cash-first support or help creates learning opportunities as it has for us by being part of it. We have learned a lot about each other, about our common struggles and our common hopes, and about cash-first approaches results in more people accessing cash-first supports through being at ease to share and to trust encourages organisations and groups practicing all of our insights to share and celebrate what they are doing
this Zine this Zine
encourages others groups like ours to raise their voices and to build on the work that we have done together helps our voices be heard . We try our best to raise our voices. It’s important that what we say is taken on board.
We invite you to listen to us via this Zine
to spend time with it as a self-reflective tool or as a team reflection activity or workshop and / or as tool for staff and volunteer training
We invite you to read through the Zine and then revisit it to pause and reflect at each insight.
To ask yourself what surprises me about these insights?
can I hold the reimagined alternatives in my own imagination? Do they look possible?
what has to happen for these reimagined alternatives to become a reality in my context?
what of these experiences might I uphold via my own practice or that of my organisation?
how do I practice a commitment to anti-poverty, anti-stigma, anti-racist, pro care, compassion, participatory and empathic work?
Our key insights are what we believe lay the ground work for implementing cashfirst approaches, enabling equitable access At the end of the Zine there is a suggested workshop template as well as links to other resources.
We know that there’s a lot more thinking, resources, and examples of good practice out there and so we don’t claim to have situated them all within this Zine. However, we hope that they serve their function as invitations to consider our reimagined alternatives more through the work of others and applying it in your own context, where necessary and where possible.
thank you thank you thank you and and and enjoy your time enjoy your time enjoy your time with our Zine with our Zine with our Zine
Our
When a community food project has no confidential space then it means people are not going to talk about their personal financial details and struggles. This means that they are less likely to access cash-first supports. If they do access cash-first supports without a confidential space then this won’t be in a dignified way.
When a community food project doesn’t look inviting or welcoming, people won’t feel comfortable to share and talk about their personal circumstances, meaning they may not access cash-first supports.
If a community food project doesn’t design the space and atmosphere to enable community members from all demographics to mix, then some people may feel lonely in the space. They may not feel included and then they may not return. If this community food project offers cash-first support then these people will not access it there.
sometimes we have to take our kids with us, they feel like we are begging, it’s embarrassing, it affects their wellbeing
-imaginedre
The community food project has a welcoming confidential space where people can discuss their personal finances and receive cash-first supports in a more dignified way. There’s somewhere children can go to protect them from financial struggles.
If there is no other space then it’s made really clear that people can contact them confidentially and when.
Some of our previous experiences of community food projects have had a negative impact on our feelings.
If a community food project does implement cash-first approaches, then they have to do a lot of work to build trusting relationships.
If they don’t then the memory and experience of these negative feelings may mean that some people won’t speak with anyone to access cash-first supports.
-imaginedre
You walk in somewhere and you feel included. You feel seen, you feel noticed, you feel valued.
It’s somewhere where people bring their family and friends as it’s somewhere people feel connected and positive. You feel confident to open up to speak about any issues you are having. Because of this, you speak, you’re listened to, and you access cash-first supports.
you’re pulled from pillar to post
From our experience, organisations often don’t work together. This means that organisations can be unaware of what other support is available in an area or they may give outdated information meaning people travel for a food or fuel voucher to discover that these are no longer available or the service is closed.
It also means that organisations end up competing for the same funds rather than working together to make stronger bids.
From not working together, organisations don’t learn from each other: what works, what doesn’t, and what each organisation can offer toward common goals.
Importantly, organisations often don’t work alongside community members or grassroots community groups by including them as equal partners and decision-makers.
All of this makes it difficult to access the right and most up to date cash-first support as well as have the best cash-first supports available, influenced and shaped by community members.
-imagined
Organisations work together by creating spaces for collaboration and celebration. The ethos is one of supporting what already exists in communities and of involving people who live there and who access these supports.
Organisations view each other as supports and partners as opposed to competitors. They openly share what has worked well and what hasn’t worked well. This approach means better cash-first supports and more equitable access for community members. It will also build trust in communities resulting in people accessing a wide variety of organisations and not just those that are in their area, while feeling excluded from those in another area.
The stigma of accessing food support can be perpetuated by community food projects. If a person feels this then they may just leave and never come back. If they do stay, they’re still unlikely to share personal information and access cash-first supports.
The stigma of being a person seeking asylum is an added layer - we have experienced this in some community food projects where we have been denied access to food due not having UK residency. We have also been asked personal details that are not relevant for accessing food.
This stigma erodes relationships and trust reducing access to any of the limited cash-first supports that asylum seekers may be eligible for.
People experience no stigma when they access a communtiy food project.
They are not judged, stereotyped or discriminated against.
All workers and volunteers are aware of why people experience food insecurity and food poverty.
All workers and volunteers understand that for some people there is added stigma through, for example, being a person seeking asylum.
With this understanding, all workers and volunteers act with care and compassion.
People who access the community food project stay because they experience no stigma and instead experience this care and compassion: because of this, they build up trust.
They seek support when they need it and feel like they can safely share their personal information.
When choice is stripped from people’s experiences, then they are less likely to trust that project and therefore not access cash-first supports.
-imagined
Community food projects enable choice throughout all that they do.
They invite people who access the project to make decisions on many things; from opening hours to what food is offered, from how to ensure other people access the project to deciding on what funding bids should be prioritised, from advising on how to create an inclusive atmosphere to shaping policies that directly impact on them.
This invitation is consistent, ongoing and embedded in what the project does on a daily basis.
To make our reimagined alternatives a reality, they should be seen as “all connected” and laying the groundwork for the most effective way forward for cash-first approaches to be implemented within community food initiatives.
Likewise, how these reimagined alternatives become a reality should also be viewed as interconnected, to happeninparallel as part of a process and broader shift towards implementing cash-first approaches.
training for all training for all staff and staff and volunteers volunteers consider deeply consider deeply the design the design organisations organisations should be should be supported to... supported to... create a culture create a culture of empathy, of empathy, compassion and compassion and care care involve the involve the people that people that access the access the community food community food initiative initiative
1 2 3 4 5
training for all training for all staff and staff and volunteers volunteers
Anyone that works or volunteers within a community food initiative should have training or learning opportunities on the below.
Through this, trust will build which will enable more people to access cash-first approaches.
Why people experience poverty
Cash-first approaches
The asylum seeking process
The importance of dignity and choice and how to practice this
Active listening and communication
Self-reflection
Stigma: what it is, who experiences it, and how it affects people
Participation and how to involve people meaningfully and consistently
consider the consider the design deeply design deeply
so that when people experience the space, they feel included, welcome and invited to spend time there, therefore building trust
Some of our ideas on how to do this are:
Involve people that use the space
Big bold value statements that make people know “what you’re about”, and also that hold the project to account e.g. ‘inclusive’, ‘kind’, ‘caring’
Create a space that invites people to stay longer , such as having items like newspapers, books and magazines, colouring in sheets for children, an area for people to sit and relax
Design the space to be familiar and friendly through a café-like layout with plants on the tables, decorations that make a homely feeling, art or inspiration quotes on the walls.
Have religious dietary requirements displayed such as the poster from the Dignity For All Projects
Conduct a reflective exercise with staff and volunteers whereby they walk in to the space and they go through the questions and discuss as a group
organisations organisations should be should be supported to supported to
Build more partnerships and collaborative working
Build more participation from those that access the community food project on an ongoing and consistent basis
Access multi-year unrestricted funding so that they can respond to what people say over a longer period of time
Access funding that enables cash-first supports whilst also sustaining emergency and other food supports as the benefits of “people coming together around food” are vast
Easily access up-to-date information on cash-first supports relevant to their area
Easily access examples of good practice to learn from each other through being supported to work in the open and have a centralised place to share what went well, what didn’t any, knowledge they’ve gained and resources developed
Access the training and learning opportunities that we have outlined, where necessary
create a culture create a culture of empathy, of empathy, compassion and compassion and
care care
Some community food initiatives already have this. For those that want to build more of this, small acts can have a big impact. This means more people will come along, come back, build trust and open up about their financial struggles.
Small acts can be:
Taking the time to chat topeople “a person stopping and speaking with me and the kids repeatedly opened all sorts of doors for me.”
Smiling at people, being friendly, walking up to them when theyarrive, “always have a chat with people, when you do go in you are apprehensive - go and chat, it’s a vital part. Make people feel part of what we’re doing.”
See those that access the space as human, aspeople:thiscan bedonebylearningtheirnames.It’soktoforgetandaskagain
Understanding why people in poverty, whichcanonlyleadto moreempathy,compassionandcare
involve the involve the people that people that access the access the community food community food initiative initiative
This could be through surveys or questionnaires , feedback boxes in the space, invitations to focus groups , advisory panels , committees and Board of Management .
Creating opportunities for people to share their skills and to also build new skills that might make them more comfortable or motivated to get involved with decision-making.
Create plans on how to involve more people with people that access the project - they’ll know best what will work and what won’t
You can start with decisions like what should be on the walls, the layout of the space, opening hours, what food should be served, how to promote and build up to decisions about funding, priorities, campaigning, etc
This has to be consistent and ongoing
[so that] it looks inviting rather than somewhere you get emergency food design it so people know they don’t have to take the food and leave
Places can feel stigmatised when you walk in. Will that affect who gets cashfirst support and who doesn’t?
There isn’t choice meaning people with autism or other conditions can’t eat a lot of the food. This might mean some people don’t go there meaning if they offered cash-first support they would miss out
Alot of places are set up without community input and so they’re “get what they’re given”. Will people trust them with cash-first support?
Training on how to to interact and put across in the training the befits and reflect on a time when they’ve maybe been in a situation when they’ve required a confidential setting and they couldn’t access it, how did that make them feel?
Organisations aren’t joined up and don’t work together. So you could get a referral for a fuel voucher that is only open once a week and have to wait to be able to cook food that you’re given. It all has to be cash-first and choice based and joined up
if someone calls you by your name, it makes such a difference, even although it’s hard to remember everyone’s name, I feel like they see me. Even if someone doesn’t remember then asking again is fine.
It makes me feel part of the community, it makes me feel seen and valued as a person and included, inadvertently creating that inclusive culture
some links and some links and information related to information related to our ‘how’ our ‘how’
Dignity in Practice Project by Nourish Scotland with resourcesincludingtheDignityPrinciplesinPractice
Social Action Inquiry Scotland, Consider with Care workshop
https://socialaction.scot/consider-with-care/
The Poverty Alliance, Fife Stigma Toolkit - promoting inclusive practice across Fife& Get Heard Scotland: Impact of Stigma on Benefit Take-up – Report of Citizens’ Panel
Scottish community Development Centre, Community Engagement Everything You need to know
https://www.scdc.org.uk/community-engagement
Govan Community Project, Food For All, example of participation and a range of resources and workshops including around the asylum process, culturally valued foods and dietary requirements https://govancommunityproject.org.uk/food-for-all-resources/
Glasgow Centre for Population Health’s Cash-first work: https://www.gcph.co.uk/our-work/1182-cash-first-in-glasgow
Glasgow Community Food Network’s Cash-first work including ‘cash-first in action’ profiles: https://glasgowfood.net/projects/projects-present/cash-firstin-glasgows-community-food-sector
Collaboration Toolkit - Evidence and Collaboration for Inclusive Development: some useful templates
Workshop Example for Workshop Example for considering the considering the design of design of the Community Food the Community Food Initiative Initiative
Whatyouneed
Someone to facilitate if doing as a group
The questions on the next page
Space for group discussions
Pre-prepped Priority Matrix drawn on flipchart
Flipchart, pens, post-it notes
Time: at-least 3 hours for full workshop
1.The group to be informed that this is a silent reflection exercise, followed by a group discussion.
2. Explain that questions will be read aloud for them to consider (they do not need to answer just now, they will be discussed as a group). They are asked to consider them as someone attending the space and how it would usually operate
3. The group gather outside the community food initiative
4. The facilitator to slowly and clearly read aloud the questions. Slower than feels comfortable!
5. Afterwards, gather in a space for a group discussion
6. Ask people to discuss in pairs and jot down their key reflections: how was that? Did anything surprise you? What did you notice most?
7. Invite the pairs to share with the group their key reflectionsthe facilitator to note these on flipchart
8. Once everyone has shared their key reflections, facilitate a discussion around this touching on similarities, themes that have emerged, differing perspectives and why (consider this from an intersectional lens)
9. In small groups, identify what could be improved. Ask the small groups to jot down their improvements on separate post-it notes
10. Invite participants to plot these on the Priority Matrix
11. Facilitate a wider group discussion on priorities until everyone is happy with the Priority Matrix
12. Identify actions required to move forward with all of the priorities using a simple structure such as a ‘Who’, ‘What’ and ‘When’ table
13. Decide how the group is updated on these actions (regular team meetings / dedicated Slack Channel / internal Newsletter / email circulation / arrange am update & reflection discussion)
14. Decide how to evaluate if there have been improvementsideally repeat after a period of time after the actions and involve community members
You turn up at the door or the gate.
Is it open or closed?
Can you get in easily or do you have to use a buzzer?
Is anything on the door?
Are there any signs or information?
Is it easy to work this out?
You’re now through the door or the gate.
What do you see?
Are there other people there? What do they look like?
Would anyone come to welcome you?
Would the people there chatting or is it silent?
What other sounds do you hear?
How do you feel in the place so far?
Are there tables and chairs that invite you to stay?
What is the set up like?
Is there anywhere private to go to if someone wanted a confidential chat?
What about the walls.
Is there anything on them?
If there’s staff there, what do they usually say?
Art? Information?
Would they be smiling? Unsmiling?
You go towards what people access there - whether that’s a food parcel, an activity, or anything else
Is someone there to help you?
Do they chat or not chat?
What do they say?
Would they tell you information about other things or not?
