FoodSavers Nourishing Communities vouchers

Since launching in September 2025, the FoodSavers Nourishing Communities voucher scheme has continued to expand, reaching more families across Bradford while strengthening partnerships with local organisations and independent food traders.

The scheme was developed to provide families experiencing food poverty with greater choice and dignity by enabling them to buy fresh, nutritious food from local businesses. As the programme has grown, so has our network of referral partners and participating traders, helping us reach communities across a wider area of the district.

Growing our community network

Over the past few months, we have welcomed 23 referral partners, including NHS services, Bradford Council teams, community organisations, schools, local pantries, and foodbanks. Together, they are helping us identify and support families who need it most.

We have also expanded to seven voucher collection points across the BD1, BD3, BD4, BD7, BD8 and BD10 areas. Alongside this, our network of independent traders has grown to 17 local businesses accepting vouchers. This helps families avoid additional travel costs while improving access to affordable fresh fruit, vegetables, meat, fish and other nutritious foods within their local communities.

Supporting families while investing in the local economy

Since launching, our voucher scheme has:

• supported 155 families, representing more then 500 individuals of all ages.
• generated around £15,000 in voucher redemptions through local independent traders, with this figure continuing to grow as families redeem their vouchers.

Every voucher redeemed not only helps families access fresh food but also supports Bradford’s local economy by directing spending towards independent businesses within our community.

Continued growth

The scheme has experienced significant growth over the past few months. The number of families supported has increased from 45 to 155 families, an increase of 244%. Voucher redemptions have also grown considerably, increasing from around £4,000 to £15,000. This reflects both rising demand for support and the strength of our growing referral network.

This growth shows the increasing awareness of the scheme among local organisations, as well as the ongoing need for accessible, dignified food support across Bradford.

More than access to food: building community

Our voucher scheme is about more than providing financial support for food. We want to help families build confidence, skills and long-term food security.

Alongside the vouchers, we have delivered wraparound sessions, including cooking classes, nutrition advice and budgeting. We have also partnered with Bags of Taste to help families continue cooking healthy, affordable meals after their voucher support ends. In addition, we have signposted families to a range of other services available through our Wellnest and partner organisations.

We have received some wonderful feedback from participants about the difference the scheme has made.

Without it, I’m unable to buy fresh food. I don’t have a job because of my children and health issues. Without it, it would be difficult for me to survive.

It helped us eat healthier foods, more vegetables and meat, and enjoy more nutritious meals. It also helped us afford other bills like heating and electricity.

Less stress, able to buy fresh food instead of frozen food. More choice.

It meant I could feed my children healthy and nutritious food, and I didn’t have to worry so much about not having enough food.

Making life a little easier during these very difficult times.

It has really helped my family. As a single mum with three children, no job and no benefits, we were able to eat more fruit and vegetables while saving a little money for other costs for the children.

It’s a huge help for me and my children. It has improved both our health and our financial stability. I worry less about everyday food costs and can manage my bills better.

We’ve also had feedback on the wraparound support sessions:

The sessions have been useful because I’ve learned different ways of cooking.

Learning how to cut an onion more efficiently, how to use a knife safely and ingredients for low-cost meals.

The recipes and learning which foods are good for you.

Learning to cook and understanding portion sizes.

We learned about nutrition, healthy eating and portion control.

Learning how to prepare quick meals that I hadn’t made before.

Research findings

Before launching the FoodSavers Nourishing Communities voucher scheme, we carried out research to better understand the experiences of food insecurity across Bradford and ensure the scheme responded to local needs.

As part of this work, FoodSavers surveyed 174 people across the district in June 2025. The findings highlighted the challenges many households face in accessing affordable, nutritious food and helped shape the design of the voucher scheme and the support offered alongside it.

The research has also contributed to wider discussions on food insecurity. Researchers from the University of York have drawn on the FoodSavers data to support their own analysis of food insecurity in Bradford, helping to build the evidence for community-based, cash-first approaches to tackling food poverty.

We would like to thank all our referral partners, traders and community organisations for their continued support. Their collaboration is helping more families access healthy food while strengthening Bradford’s local communities and independent businesses.