Our Story
Right at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, the founding organisations Ark-T, Waste 2 Taste, and People Place and Participation Ltd (Flo’s), became aware from our community members about the impact of food shortages on our communities.
We quickly responded to immediate local need during the peak of the pandemic, and the lockdowns that followed, by providing home cooked meals to people who were isolated, unwell and struggling to feed themselves and their loved ones.
We teamed up with Oxford Community Action (OCA) and Syrian Sisters who were galvanizing action within their communities who were facing cultural and language barriers to accessing the support they needed.
Supported by Oxford Hub we recruited dozens of volunteers. We had emergency relief funding from Oxford Community Foundation, The National Lottery Community Fund and private donations. We had support from SOFEA and Oxford Food Hub to get access to surplus food with which to create food parcels and cooked meals.
As word got out to the wider communities, the numbers of referrals increased and we began to gain better insight into the needs, and how best to support longer term autonomy and resilience.
The community we served told us about insecure housing, poor mental health, social isolation, low-income, long-term health conditions, single-parenting, lack of access to the benefit and welfare system;- the many barriers to accessing public support and impact on their ability to access healthy food locally. We began working with other frontline food initiatives, listening to their lived experience and their knowledge of the ‘under-reached communities’ they have been able to serve.
During 2021 the Partnership developed and expanded, responding to diverse needs and a shift of emphasis - beginning to build community led recovery and resilience. Working with more local organisations and learning from wider networks such as Good Food Oxford, we have begun to work towards a system change in how we think about food and eating well and addressing the food inequalities that exist within our community. Our shared mission is working together to ensure that “everyone in OX4 has enough good food, is well nourished and can thrive”. There are now 9 organisations working towards this shared goal.
