Joel Stewart, development worker at Lancaster District Food Justice Partnership, reflects on the organisation’s first year as a registered charity…
Twelve months after its official registration as a charity in July 2025, Lancaster District Food Justice Partnership (LDFJP) held its first AGM at Lancaster Town Hall.
Since achieving charitable status, a significant part of LDFJP’s work has focused on strengthening its foundations, recruiting trustees, writing policies and fundraising.
At the same time, the fantastic work of the district’s food banks, food clubs and community cafes has continued.
Whilst The Olive Branch and Morecambe Bay Foodbank provide those in crisis with vital emergency food parcels, the clubs and cafes support over 700 households every week with a hugely discounted shop and free or affordable hot meals.
For some, their club membership saves them money and helps them keep up with the cost of living; for others, the main motivation is to help prevent food waste.
For all members, however, the food clubs are a chance for regular social connection and the opportunity to give back to their community.
Stanleys Community Centre in Morecambe’s West End is one such example of the food clubs’ threefold benefits.
It is the district’s first complete food circle, where members’ weekly £8 food shops and daily free community meals are partly made up of supermarket surplus and produce from the community allotment.
As well as saving money, saving food and socialising over a shared plate, members are empowered to volunteer in each part of the food circle.
In this way, Stanleys serves as a model for how communities can self-organise for a fairer and more sustainable future. In recognition of this success, colleagues from the Sustainable Food Places network recently visited the site as part of the North Lancs is Gold application to see members and volunteers in action.
LDFJP’s work over the next few months will focus on developing the district’s food clubs network.
It is hoped that the government’s Crisis and Resilience Fund will present new opportunities for the clubs and their communities to establish their own food circles.
As we head into autumn, the partnership will also start planning a programme of additional food clubs and community meals for the Christmas period which, for many, can be a challenging time.
