BIG Lottery Fund (Well-being Programme)
The Big Lottery Fund is responsible for giving out half the money for good causes raised by the National Lottery which brings in a budget of about £630 million a year. BIG is committed to bringing real improvements to communities and the lives of people most in need. To that end it has provided a £16.9 million grant towards the Food for Life Partnership, a five-year initiative, involving Focus on Food, the Soil Association, Garden Organic and the Health Education Trust, which aims to transform food culture in schools and communities.

The Food for Life Partnership is establishing one hundred and eighty Food for Life flagship schools across England. These schools will demonstrate that giving children hands-on experience of growing and cooking their own food, together with visits to local and organic farms, will increase their appetite for fresh healthy fruit and vegetables, and boost school meals uptake. Flagship schools will also reach out to parents and community groups to get them cooking and growing food too.

The Food for Life Partners and their flagship schools are served by a dedicated Food for Life Focus on Food Cooking Bus which is doing sterling work delivering teaching and training workshops for all concerned with this groundbreaking project.

For further information about the BIG Lottery Fund go to www.biglotteryfund.org.uk
To discover more about the Food for Life Partnership access www.foodforlife.org.uk