Festive Food Fund Application: Borough full of Beans

Overview

Rochdale Borough has recently been awarded membership of the Sustainable Food Places as recognition for work, including the Borough full of Beans campaign. As part of this campaign, we want the people of the borough of Rochdale to eat more beans, lentils and legumes. That’s because they’re affordable, good for the environment, and amazing for your health.

As winter draws in, and we have colder, shorter days, many people also have less social interaction than they need, and loneliness and isolation can increase.

We’re therefore inviting VCFSE groups and organisations to bid for up to £500 of unused Aldi vouchers to host community meals that bring people together with the offer of a free nutritious meal that involves the use of beans, lentils and/or legumes.

We are therefore looking for organisations who are able to do one, or both, of the following:

1. Provide a free meal, using beans in some way, to members of the community, in a community setting (e.g. a community centre), with a specific focus on fostering community and togetherness (particularly for people who otherwise may be alone)
2. Provide free meals, using beans in some way, along with a befriending/chatting element, to community members who are alone and aren’t able to leave their home

The meal, or meals, could include a vegetarian version of a meat dish (e.g. a lentil cottage pie), incorporating beans into a meat based dish to extend the meal (e.g. a sausage and bean casserole), or simply a dish that is already based on the use of beans, lentils, and legumes (e.g. a dhal, or black peas). It’s up to you, and we encourage you to be inventive (think beyond beans on toast!).

Some possible recipes include:

Butter Bean Carbonara (aldi.co.uk)

Ranch Style Sausages with Sweet Potato Wedges - ALDI UK

Slow Cooker Pulled Pork & Black Bean Chilli (aldi.co.uk)

Vegan Bean Mild Chilli - ALDI UK

The event must take place between 01/12/2024 and 01/02/2025 and you may want to tie the event into a festive event.

We are inviting you to complete the following application form by 01/11/2024. Please also take note of the following:

• The vouchers must be spent at Aldi, and must be used predominantly for food and soft drinks. They cannot be used for alcohol, gambling products (e.g. the lottery) or tobacco.   
• You must be a voluntary, faith, community or social enterprise organisation operating within the Borough of Rochdale.
• You will need to keep hold of your receipts to prove spending totals.
• There is no additional funding (e.g. funding for room hire) available as part of this scheme. 
• While the focus should be on engaging people who may be alone, we do not expect these people to be the only ones you invite or involve.
• We are also open to receiving more innovative ideas, as long as they are in the spirit of the above.
• Your project should be delivered between 01/12/2024 and 01/02/2025, and we are keen to support at least one project in each of the borough’s five townships.
• You will be assessed on:
  • Your proposed plans to reach and engage people who may be alone,
  • How you may be able to help people overcome barriers to attend any events.
  • How you propose to incorporate beans, and how you may advocate incorporating more of them into diets
  • How you’ll foster a spirit of community
• You can apply more than once, for example to host events in different areas, and as a consortium of partners if you wish.
• To avoid stigma, we encourage any promotion you do to focus on themes such as community, festivities, and togetherness. We discourage any promotion that explicitly talks about or focusses on loneliness, isolation, and poverty.
• If successful, you will receive an email confirming the outcome of your application and the expectations attached to the provision of vouchers

If you have any questions, please contact festivefoodfund@rochdale.gov.uk.