Hartcliffe and Withwood (the postcode of BS13) is one of the most deprived communities in Bristol. With a reported one in eight households experiencing severe food insecurity, it means that large numbers of people in the community are struggling financially and unable to afford healthy, nutritious food. It is an issue that predates the Covid pandemic and now the cost-of-living crisis has made the situation even worse.
Heart of BS13 is a small organisation of fewer than a dozen people making a huge impact in the BS13 community. The charity runs three programmes focusing on food security, vocational training at its on-site flower farm and climate action through a range of project aimed at young people.
“Hartcliffe and Withywood is often described as a ‘left behind’ community, one that has been struggling for decades, with minimum social investment and long-term, trans-generational deprivation" said Jodie Smith, Food Programme Manager of Heart of BS13.
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Jodie first started working at the organisation almost five years ago. Prior to the pandemic, Jodie and Executive Director Georgina Perry had been discussing the idea of how to set up a non-stigmatised alternative to a food bank that would offer high quality food choice to struggling families in the area.
In 2020, at the start of the Covid pandemic, the charity launched a food response sending out 40,000 meals to 400 households over an 18-month period. This initial project has now become the Heart of BS13’s Kitchen, established to deal with food insecurity in BS13 – both immediate, through the Community Freezer, and long term, through various projects such as the Slow Cooker Club and the upcoming mobile food shop.
The launch of the BS13 Community Freezer has coincided with the cost-of-living crisis, perhaps a new concept to many people but not if you live in communities like BS13, where many people struggle to make ends meet. The Community Freezer has supported over 100 households with almost 6000 meals over the past 12 months, offering delicious, free, home-style frozen meals to BS13 residents, imaginatively cooked by head chef Luke Benwell.
The service alleviates household financial pressures as the cost of living deepens across the country. “Food banks certainly have their place and what they do is brilliant - but we wanted to offer almost a shopping experience where you come into our store and the chef’s cooking – and you have high quality food choices.”
The meals can be cooked in the microwave with dishes like chicken jalfrezi, cottage pie, Spaghetti Bolognese and simpler dishes for children. The recipes are created to offer variety as well as nutrition.
Jodie and Luke have taken the reins and developed a social enterprise arm at the Heart of BS13 Kitchen. Launched online at first, selling frozen meals in 2021, Heart of BS13 meals are now stocked in 15 retail outlets across Bristol and sales help to fund the Community Freezer.
The Hartcliffe and Withywood area is recognised as a ‘food desert’, a place in which it is difficult for low-income households or those without access to transport to afford fresh, quality food. Jodie said: “We found that single parent households struggle to get across to the supermarkets even though they’re a mile or so away because they have multiple children or if they don’t have a car. Even though it doesn’t seem like much of a journey to transport your shopping back, it really is.”
Home delivery is also not an option for many households as supermarkets will often set a minimum price to qualify, which is not affordable for many people. Convenience stores then become a widely used option but sell products at high prices, with limited fresh food and offering alcohol and confectionary high in sugar.
To combat this, the charity is launching an E-cargo bike shop this spring that will travel street by street around the BS13 area twice a week, visiting the most vulnerable households to offer a ‘nip across the road’ approach to sourcing kitchen cupboard essentials. There will also be milk, eggs, some meat, veg, cheese dairy, rice frozen meals and fresh bread, all sold at a reasonable price.
Coinciding with E-cargo shop service, Heart of BS13 has collaborated with Hart’s Bakery by Temple Meads Railway Station and Batches Bakery in Bedminster to create an affordable, high-quality loaf of bread. Traditionally a sourdough bakery, Hart’s has developed a whiteish, everyday loaf and invested in a slicing machine to offer bread suitable for toast and sandwiches.
“For the JustBread scheme, we decided that we needed to produce something comparable to what people are used to; still recognisable and family-friendly but made from better ingredients, with no additives and using artisan processes,” Laura Hart told the Real Bread Campaign last month.
Hart’s subsidises the loaf and absorbs much of the cost, enabling Heart of BS13 to sell it for 75p. This is less than brand name loaves and all but the very cheapest ‘value’ range supermarket own-brand ones.
Jodie also spearheaded the Slow Cooker Club project, trialled with forty BS13 families throughout 2022 to help people to batch cook from scratch using energy-efficient means. Slow cooking is accessible and also time-saving, too.
“The children got really involved which was just fantastic and they were excited about receiving the ingredients each week. It’s a simple way to cook and an easy way to encourage kids to get cooking too!
“Our Slow Cooker Club was aimed at tackling fuel and food poverty simultaneously and people got to keep their slow cooker at the end of the 6-week course. The follow up evaluation shows that people have been using their slow cooker two to three times a week after completing the course.”
Jodie said the organisation is definitely seeing a day-to-day increase in demand for the Community Freezer. “We know people find it really difficult to ask for food so we want to make our project as accessible as possible. Families can access it in a way that suits them and pick up weekly, fortnightly or monthly, depending on whether they are experiencing a one off crisis or ongoing benefit delays.
If you live in BS13 and think you might benefit from the organisation’s services - offering eight weeks of support with the option to extend - you can enquire through the website, Facebook or over the phone. Those who are able to can donate to Heart of BS13 through its website.
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