By Michael French, Community Food Co-ordinator, Public Health and Communities Directorate

Isolation and loneliness are big issues facing older adults in our communities. This project hears from people in the Bournemouth, Christchurch, and Poole area about their struggles and difficulties around food, connection, and the stigma attached to asking for support. BCP’s Access to Food Partnership wanted to better understand local observations that ‘older adults are less likely to use food banks and have a higher level of attendance at lunch club settings’.

In collaboration with Christchurch Community Partnership and Bournemouth University’s PIER (Public Involvement in Education and Research) team, the project worked closely with Highcliffe Lunch Club to better understand the barriers as well as the solutions that will enable better access to relevant support for older people experiencing food insecurity.

The BU PIER Community Researcher Model enables participants with lived experience of the topic to feel comfortable sharing their insight, as well as building confidence in becoming peer mentors and community researchers.

The conversations by community researchers identified the following themes:
1. Basic Needs Not Being Met
2. Broadening from Poverty
3. Benefits of Lunch Clubs
4. Asking For Help
5. Someone to Trust

“A significant learning for us from his project was that access to food for some older people was not only about poverty. It was often about mobility, frailty and tied up with not wanting to ask for help or be seen as a burden. Having someone they could just ask, was the key to making a difference”. BU Research team

The research has prompted partners to take action and develop their practice using the lessons learnt, including:

• Christchurch Community Partnership has established a new monthly Sunday Roast project and weekly Lunch Club, which includes more time on either side of a meal for people to socialise (mobility issues meant eating and talking is harder for some attendees) as well as supporting the Greystones lunch club. “We were surprised at how much food insecurity there is for many of our older residents and the Hidden Hunger research has both informed and shaped our provision going forward” said Rev. Sandra Prudom CEO of CCP.
• Partners to use the learnt ‘community researcher model’ to reach other seldom heard voices within our communities.
• Bournemouth University will help build capacity for community groups, staff and volunteers to have the skills and confidence to lead and conduct research

The Access to Food Partnership is a group of over 70 community food organisations and many others from the public and voluntary sector. They will continue to connect and deliver better outcomes for those experiencing food insecurity. Alistair Doxat-Purser (Chair of Access to Food and CEO of Faithworks) said, “The findings from this research project are very timely as demand at food banks from those over 65 starts to grow. Relational support as well as practical help is becoming more and more what the Access to Food Partnership stands for – and magnificently demonstrates day in, day out.”

The partners have also produced a film to share the findings of the project.