The funding will be used to develop sustainable local food sourcing infrastructure by investing in S6 Foodbank to give them capacity to purchase food at scale on behalf of other foodbanks and food initiatives in the city. This will benefit the food projects who take part by reducing the cost of the food they require and reducing the time they must spend sourcing food. In turn this will increase the resilience of the emergency food relief system.

This investment accelerates the implementation of the Food Access Plan, a Labour initiative launched last year with 200k funding, to support the co-ordination of the city’s foodbanks.

Cllr Laura McClean, Labour Cllr for Walkley said:

‘The failures of this Tory Government continue to blight the lives of Sheffielders – with soaring food prices, increased energy costs and mortgage rates going through the roof. Families are struggling to make ends meet and are relying, in increasing numbers, on foodbanks across the city.

‘The work put in by volunteers at S6 Foodbank and many other food access initiatives, including at Foodworks, can never be praised enough. I hope this additional grant to support sustainable food provision will enable S6 Foodbank to meet the challenges of increased demand.’

Councillor Ruth Milsom, Chair of the Health Scrutiny Sub-Committee and Labour spokesperson for Adult Health and Social Care said:

‘It’s really great to see that the Food Access Plan we introduced last year is flourishing into hard solutions like this, supported by the SYMCA. I’m pleased the Mayor is working with us and is putting MCA resources in to support the South Yorkshire Health and Wellbeing strategy that he has presided over as chair of the Integrated Care Partnership.

‘From NHS and local authority perspectives this kind of upstream community provision is incredibly valuable, relieving pressure on those systems and helping keep people well.’

Last week saw the launch of a new Food Action Plan for Sheffield, which has involved around 100 organisations and individuals, including the city council. Overseen by the local food partnership ‘ShefFood’, the Plan seeks to build a comprehensive system of food resilience over time.