Community Fruit and Veg Project
The Community Fruit and Veg Project is a new social enterprise that was set up as part of the Five a Day programme based at Hastings and Rother Primary Care Trust in order to help local people to eat more healthily. Its main aims are to increase the availability of fruit and vegetables in Hastings and Rother, to ensure that all produce is sold at affordable prices, and to source locally grown fruit and vegetables whenever possible. The project runs fruit and veg stalls in community centres around Hastings and St Leonards and also delivers fruit and veg bags, bulk orders and local veg boxes. It is planning to expand its services to Rural Rother in the near future.
Aims and Objectives
The overall aim of the Community Fruit and Veg Project is to improve the health of local people by making it easier for them to eat more fruit and vegetables.
The objectives of the Community Fruit and Veg Project as laid out in its constitution are:
- To increase the availability of fruit and vegetables in Hastings and Rother.
- To ensure that all produce is sold at affordable prices.
- To source locally grown fruit and vegetables whenever possible.
- To operate in an environmentally sustainable manner.
- To target groups of people who currently have a low intake of fruit and vegetables.
- To create volunteering, training and employment opportunities so that local people can play a full part in the community and take an active role in the regeneration of Hastings and Rother.
- To operate on a not-for-profit basis.
- To work in partnership with other organisations in Hastings and Rother.
Partners
The Community Fruit and Veg Project has worked in partnership with a large number of community-based organisations, including Hastings Voluntary Action, Hastings Borough Council, Four Courts Residents Association, Southwater Community Centre, Greater Hollington Partnership, Downs Farm Residents Association, 1066 Housing Association, St Saviours College and all the local Children's Centres.
Methodology
The Community Fruit and Veg Project aims to get as much of it’s fresh produce as possible from local producers, including Snaylham Farm in Icklesham, Perry Court Farm and Greenway Fruit Farm in Herstmonceux, as well as organic bread from Judges Bakery. The stalls and boxes have a wide range of local fruit and vegetables including apples, pears, cabbages, potatoes, onions, cauliflowers and leeks as well as more unusual varieties such as pak choi, purple sprouting broccoli and celeriac. The project also supplies a selection of fruits that cannot be grown locally e.g. bananas, satsumas, grapes, and kiwis, which are bought from a local wholesaler.
Stalls are currently running at Southwater Community Centre, Bevin Court, Roosevelt Court and St Saviours College. The veg box scheme runs on a Friday and all box orders need to be placed in advance. Veg boxes cost £6 are customers can choose between a local veg box or a local box with imported fruit. Both boxes contain about ten different varieties of fruit and vegetables including potatoes and onions and one or two items of local fruit when it’s in season. Boxes can be picked up from the project’s base and they are also delivered to variety of collection points including schools, workplace and residential locations.
The Community Fruit and Veg Project has also just started a Healthy Start bag scheme which is run in partnership with all the local children’s centres in Hastings. Healthy Start bags cost £2.80 and can be paid for in cash or with Healthy Start vouchers. Customers can choose between a fruit bag, a veg bag or a mixed bag and they all contain about five different varieties. This scheme is currently running with Hollington, East Hastings and Hastings Children’s Centres and at Downs Farm Community Centre. The Community Fruit and Veg Project also supplies £2 fruit and veg bags which are more suitable for older people living on their own. These are currently delivered to Caple Court and Fallowfield sheltered housing.
In order to cut costs and reduce food miles both the box and bag schemes work by having collection points where lots of orders can be delivered at the same time. In order to set up a new collection point we need to have at least 5 boxes or 10 bags ordered in each location. We also need a main contact who can take orders and payments on our behalf and also help promote the scheme. The Community Fruit and Veg Project relies on the support of volunteers to help run the stalls and pack bags and boxes, as it aims to keep the price of the fruit and veg as cheap as possible. Current volunteers includes adults with learning difficulties, elderly people and members of residents associations. The CFVP provides free training courses for volunteers and they also get a discount on fruit and vegetables.
Promotion
The project is promoted via leaflets, posters, newsletters, websites, etc. However the cheapest and most effective way of promoting the scheme is by word of mouth. Many box scheme customers recommend the project to their friends. The bag and box scheme also have a main contact at each collection point whose role it is to help promote the scheme and recruit customers. The project is also promoted to community based organisations by PCT staff.
Resources
The CFVP has received the majority of its start up funding from Five a Day and Hastings and Rother PCT, including money from the Neighbourhood Renewal Fund. It has also received funding from Global Grants and smaller grants from Hastings Borough Council’s Environmental Bursary, Broadband East Sussex and more recently from the Isabel Blackman Trust, the Magdalen and Lasher Charity and the Local Enterprise Growth Initiative.
Equipment needed to run the scheme includes a delivery vehicle, fridges to store fresh produce, electronic weighing scales, packing tables, and IT equipment. The project has 3 part-time members of staff and around 15 volunteers. It has it's own premises which includes office space and a large room for packing and storing the fresh produce.
Evaluation
The project's evaluation is based on and whether it meets its targets of starting new outlets and increasing levels of sales. The project also sends out customer satisfaction questionnaires. Since September 2005 the project has grown from supplying 20 boxes a week to around 100.
Lessons Learned
This type of project needs long-term support and external funding, as it will take several years to build up the business until it is generating significant income from sales.
Future Developments
The project has just received funding from the Wealden and Rural Rother partnership and plans to expand to Rural Rother in the near future.