All posts by Kathy Lewis
The Nutrition Society establishes the APPG for Nutrition: Science and Health
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Remembering Professor Philip James
On October 30th, I was privileged to attend the funeral of Phil James who was a previous long-term Vice President of the Caroline Walker Trust (CWT) and the recipient of the CWT Lifetime Achievement Award in 2019. The Caroline Walker Trust sent a gift of an olive tree to Jean James in Phil’s memory.
Eulogies at the funeral were given by Phil’s sister, his daughter, Clare and Professor Paul Trayhurn. The post funeral gathering was held at the Canal Museum in North London, very close to Phil’s house.
Phil and his wife Jean got together when they were 18 and 19 – as a result of having attended the same Yorkshire boarding school and meeting up by chance with a group of other ex-pupils at a coffee bar which still exists! They married prior to Phil’s final year studying medicine at UCL – causing a good deal of angst to Phil’s widowed mother! Given the diagnosis of bronchiectasis when he was still a student and the grim prognosis that he might not survive beyond his 40s, to have reached 85 was a miracle for Phil. He was amazing the way he coped with it for all those years.
Phil’s long career spanned the Tropical Metabolism Unit in Jamaica, the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, the Dunn Clinical Nutrition Centre in Cambridge and the Rowett Research Institute in Aberdeen. If you want to know more about Phil’s career, his joy at being a campaigner and a dissenter, here is the autobiography that he wrote for me in the 2021 collation of Nutrition Society Presidents and Honorary Fellows.
On a personal note, I will always be grateful to Phil because, in 1980, he enabled my move within the Medical Research Council, from the Clinical Research Centre in Harrow to the Dunn in Cambridge.
The olive tree will be planted in the garden of their son, Mark, in Liverpool. Phil’s ashes will be buried beneath it.
Dr Margaret Ashwell OBE
Vice President
The Caroline Walker Trust
CWT announces new Vice President
The Caroline Walker Trust (CWT) is excited to announce that the expert nutrition scientist Dr Margaret Ashwell OBE, PhD, DSc, EdD, Hon FNS, FAfN, RNutr(Public Health) has become one of its new Vice Presidents. Dr Ashwell’s appointment is an honorary role, involving ceremonial duties, providing an important link between the CWT governing board and its stakeholders, including volunteers, universities, partner organisations, professional bodies and relevant charities.
Dr Margaret Ashwell’s nutrition career spanning nearly fifty years has included a variety of roles: research scientist with the Medical Research Council, Principal of the Good Housekeeping Institute, Science Director of the British Nutrition Foundation and, for more than 28 years, Director of Ashwell Associates, a nutrition science consultancy. Margaret served on the UK Government’s Food Advisory Committee for 9 years and was rewarded with the OBE. She is an Honorary Fellow of the Nutrition Society and the Association for Nutrition (AfN), has received Honorary Doctorates in Science and Education and is the Immediate Past President of AfN. In 2019, Margaret became a founding Trustee of the Academy of Nutrition Sciences.
Commenting on her appointment, Dr Ashwell said, “I am thrilled to become a Vice President of the Caroline Walker Trust, as I knew Caroline personally having worked together in the early 1980s. Since the inception of the Trust, I have followed its growth and achievements with great interest and was greatly honoured to receive the Caroline Walker Trust’s Lifetime Achievement Award in 2023. I look forward to supporting the Trust in this new role and continuing to improve public health within the UK.”
Kathy Lewis, Acting Chair of the CWT, added, “On behalf of The Caroline Walker Trust, we are delighted that Dr. Ashwell will join us as Vice President. As one of the most experienced nutritionists in the country, her warmth, passion, experience and knowledge will be great assets to this charity and not only support our stakeholder interaction but importantly help us to fulfil our mission of improving public health through good food.“
For further information, contact Kathy Lewis at [email protected] or 07961 317 621
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Notes to the Editor
The Caroline Walker Trust
The Caroline Walker Trust was founded in 1989 after the death of the distinguished nutritionist, writer and campaigner Caroline Walker. Established to continue her work and in her spirit, the CWT works tirelessly to promote the improvement of public health through good food. The work of CWT is particularly targeted towards vulnerable groups and people who need special help.
Further details about Dr Margaret Ashwell’s career
Dr Ashwell’s original early research contribution to improving public health was showing that the waist-to-height ratio (WHtR) is an indicator of early health risk. This proxy measure (for the more harmful central adiposity) was recommended twenty five years later in the 2022 National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidelines. Margaret continually advocated for the boundary value of WHtR=0.5 which translates into the simple public health message of ‘Keep your waist to less than half your height’. In practical terms, this simplifies primary health screening for men, women and children in all ethnic groups because the measurement only requires a piece of string.
Editing the biography of the nutrition pioneers, McCance and Widdowson, published in 1993, is the project which has given Margaret most satisfaction. She has continued to undertake many fascinating projects about Elsie Widdowson, including the unveiling of her blue plaque in 2021.
Supporting a diverse Eatwell Guide
The Caroline Walker Trust, in collaboration with Birmingham City Council, is looking for healthcare and education professionals to support the development of healthy eating resources which celebrate the city’s diversity, support education, and catalyse healthy eating amongst different cultural groups.
The Eatwell Guide is the UK national guidelines on how to eat a healthy balanced diet. The guide was originally made with European diets in mind and did not consider other cultural diets. Therefore, we want to develop eating guidelines and resources for different cultural diets and settings. Before the resources are designed, we would like to collaborate with various health and education professionals that deliver nutrition and/or healthy eating advice as part of their role so to explore which formats would be the best for the resources.
The first stage of the research will start in June, with small focus groups and structured interviews conducted online by Registered Dietitians, where healthcare and education professionals can share their experiences, opinions, and suggestions on the available resources.
The aim is to gather feedback and recommendations on the best format for the eating guides. We will also explore how balanced diet messages should be communicated to diverse cultural communities.
Action:
If you would like to get involved in this research, contact our Project Coordinator, Francesca Straniero (ANutr), with the following information.
Thank you for your support.
This project has now been completed.
Contact details:
Project coordinator: Francesca Straniero
Email: [email protected]
CWT Annual Awards 2022 Shortlist Announcement
For Immediate Release 
Shortlist for the 2022 Caroline Walker Trust Awards Announced
28 February 2023 // The Caroline Walker Trust (CWT) is delighted to announce the 2022 CWT Awards shortlist. The awards celebrate the successes in the food and nutrition field to inspire others in this sector to continue the important work they do to support our nation’s health and to advance food and nutrition standards. The theme for this year’s award is food sustainability, with four award categories to reflect the diversity of career paths in the nutrition field: Charity Food Campaigner of the Year, Nutritionist of the Year; Freelance Nutritionist of the Year; and Nutrition, Food Science or Dietetic Lecturer of the Year.
The winner of each category will receive the title, an award certificate, £250 honoraria and a star trophy.
Commenting on the entries received, Kathy Lewis, Interim Chair of the CWT, said, “We are delighted with the diverse range and high-quality entries to this year’s Caroline Walker Trust Awards. Every year we are thrilled to hear of so many ongoing initiatives with a common goal of improving our nation’s health that we hope will continue to inspire and enthuse others working in the nutrition field. The focus on sustainable food highlights the many approaches which are being implemented to demonstrate that food which is good for us is also good for the environment.
The final shortlisted nominees for each category are as follows:
Nutritionist of the Year – Dr Glenys Jones, Rhiannon Lambert, Haleh Moravej
Freelance Nutritionist of the Year – Ms Clemence Cleave, Mrs Charlotte Stirling-Reed
Nutrition, Food Science or Dietetic Lecturer of the Year – Dr Clare Pettinger (University of Plymouth), Dr Adele Costabile (Roehampton University), Dr Christian Reynolds (City, University of London)
Charity Food Campaigner of the Year – School Food Matters, Sustain, Edinburgh Community Food
“On behalf of CWT, I would like to congratulate all the shortlisted nominees and everyone who submitted nominations and thank the judges for their work,” continued Kathy Lewis.
The 2022 CWT Awards were sponsored by the Nutrition Society, Association for Nutrition and SENSE.
For further information on the awards nominations: The CWT Annual Awards 2022 | The Caroline Walker Trust
Contact Kathy Lewis at [email protected] 07961 317 621
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Notes to the Editor
The Awards
For information on the background to the awards and how the result arrived, see: The CWT Annual Awards 2022 | The Caroline Walker Trust
The Caroline Walker Trust
The Caroline Walker Trust was founded in 1989 after the death of the distinguished nutritionist, writer and campaigner Caroline Walker. Established to continue her work and in her spirit, the CWT works tirelessly to promote the improvement of public health through good food. The work of CWT is particularly targeted towards vulnerable groups and people who need special help.
Our Sponsors
The Nutrition Society was established in 1941 and is one of the largest learned societies for nutrition in the world. With over 2,5000 members internationally, the Society is dedicated to delivering its mission of advancing the scientific study of nutrition and its application to animal and human health. The Society disseminates and promotes nutrition science through its six journals and six textbooks, in addition to regularly organising CPD-endorsed conferences and training through its newly established e-learning academy. Working with universities, parliamentarians, industry representatives, academic researchers, and other membership organisations, the Society aims to create opportunities for building relationships that strengthen research and collaboration within the field. Membership is open to any individual with interest in nutritional science.
SENSE is the original unique network for professional self-employed Registered Nutritionists and Registered Dietitians. It is a diverse network of friendly freelance Nutritionists. Founded in 1996 by Dr Margaret Ashwell, members benefit from regular AfN accredited CPD events, networking opportunities, collaborative working, website listings to showcase nutrition specialism, resources, and support and advice from our experienced membership. http://www.sense-nutrition.org.uk
The Association for Nutrition (AfN) holds the UK Voluntary Register of Nutritionists (UKVRN), a register of competent, qualified nutrition professionals who meet our rigorously applied standards for scientifically sound evidence-based nutrition and its use in practice. The UK Voluntary Register of Nutritionists is the only register of qualified nutritionists recognised by Public Health England, NHS Choices and NHS Careers.
Quotes
Category |
Quote from short-listed entry |
Charity Food Campaigner of the Year |
Sustain – Ben Reynolds, Deputy CEO of Sustain: the alliance for better food and farming, commented on the organisation’s nomination:“We are delighted with this nomination. It’s been another tough year for people struggling to eat healthy, affordable and sustainable food and for those campaigning for policies and practices to improve our food system. In the face of this, my colleagues, together with organisations in our alliance, have performed nothing short of miracles.” Stephanie Slater, Founder and Chief Executive, School Food Matters“We want every child in every school to have access to healthy, sustainable meals, and to understand the vital contribution nutritious food makes to their health and happiness.” “Our food system is broken, putting children’s health at risk. But schools can play a role in ensuring that children receive the good nutrition they need to thrive and by working together we can create a generation that understands about how good food supports their health and happiness.” School Food Matters is the charity that knows schools. Founded in 2007, the charity was born out of a grassroots campaign that transformed school meals for 38 schools in the London Borough of Richmond. We now work in all London boroughs and in cities throughout England. We raise funds so that we can offer free food education programmes to schools. We use our extensive knowledge, gained from delivering these programmes over 15 years, to advocate for better school meals and vital food education. We work in partnership with charities that share our mission, bringing the voices of children, parents and teachers to government policy. Louise Cairn, Food and Health Development Officer, Edinburgh Community Food, Shortlisted CWT Charity Food Campaigner of the Year nominee |
Nutritionist of the Year |
Dr Glenys Jones“I am absolutely delighted to have been shortlisted for the CWT Nutritionist of the Year award. We have a truly wonderful profession full of amazing professionals, and I am honoured to be able to contribute in my small way to promoting Caroline’s vision of improving public health through good food. Rhiannon Lambert – RNutr, Founder of Rhitrition and Sunday Times Best Selling Author“As a registered nutritionist it is an absolute honour to be nominated for nutritionist of the year. For many years I have been striving to make nutritional science accessible to all. Helping the public fight dietary myths and inspiring them to make informed choices about their nutrition and wellbeing. No one should feel alone and confused about their diet when we have access to more knowledge than ever before.” Haleh Moravej, Senior Lecturer in Nutritional Sciences and MetMUnch Social
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Freelance Nutritionist of the Year |
Ms Clemence Cleave Freelance Nutritionist and Founder of Rocket Fuel Wellbeing“Being a freelance nutritionist is much more than delivering evidence-based nutrition. It’s about guiding and empowering people to find their unique way to nourish themselves. Success looks different for everyone – through my work, I thrive on meeting my clients where they are, providing the support they need.”Clémence Cleave (MSc, RNutr) is a freelance nutritionist and founder of Rocket Fuel Wellbeing. She is also a trained chef, a visiting lecturer in public health and a published author. She works with individuals and organisations, delivering workshops, health programmes and 1-to-1 nutrition coaching, taking the individuality of her clients into account. Charlotte Stirling-Reed, R.Nutr.,“I’m so honoured to be nominated for Freelance Nutritionist of the Year. I’ve spent years dedicating my work to helping parents and carers to feed their families with confidence and offering advice via a variety of media within the UK. It’s really special to be recognized by the Caroline Walker Trust.” |
Nutrition, Food Science or Dietetic Lecturer of the Year |
Dr Christian Reynolds, Reader in Food Policy, Centre for Food Policy, City, University of London“Education is central to transforming the food system to improve the nutrition and health of individuals, society, the economy, and the planet. It is amazing to have been nominated as CWT Lecturer of the Year.This nomination highlights the great teaching and research carried out at the Centre for Food Policy, City, University of London. Together, we continue to educate the next generation of food system change-makers and provide impactful research to support government and civil society. I am proud of my own Sustainability focused research supporting the FSA, DEFRA and zero waste Scotland over the last 12 months. It has also been great leading the Nutrition Society’s theme on Food Systems; I relish opportunities to communicate with the nutrition community on integrating Sustainably and food systems into their own practice.”
Dr Adele Costabile, R.Nutr.,“Can gut bugs change the world? This was the question I asked myself 20 years ago when I developed a fascination for the microbial world and its impact on our health. I research the ways which bacteria and food interact, and how we can improve health by targeting certain bacteria”.Dr Adele Costabile is affiliated with the University of Roehampton where she holds the title of Associate Professor of Health Sciences and Nutrition. She is also Registered Nutritionist with the Association for Nutrition and a member of the International Scientific Association for Probiotics and Prebiotics (ISAPP). Her research focuses on the role of the gut microbiota and the validation of human intervention strategies, via biomolecular approaches including gut model systems and human trials. She is currently researching how diet can be used to reduce risk for certain disease. Dr Clare Pettinger, Lecturer Public Health Dietetics & Programme Lead for MSc Human Nutrition“It is my great honour to have been nominated for CWT ‘lecturer of the year’ on the topic of ‘food sustainability’. This topic is a great passion of mine – I am an enthusiastic advocate for promoting healthy sustainable diets and food systems both in my educational (lecturer) role and in my community activist role. It is a matter of social justice – our food system currently fails those most in need, meaning that nutritional and social inequalities have become common place. Facilitated learning with students on this topic, to consider sustainability and complexity/systems thinking and food justice within their learning is essential for future nutrition professionals. These critical elements offer transferable skills to develop practitioners who are resilient, innovative and compassionate in their future nutrition careers, in an ever changing world…” |
Treasurer Trustee
The Caroline Walker Trust is entering a new phase with several projects and publications being launched in spring 2023. To support the brilliant efforts of our Board of Trustees and various committees, we are looking for a new Treasurer. The candidate needs to be a qualified accountant with experience in charity accounts and preferably past fundraising and fund application experience.
To apply, please send your CV to [email protected] with a covering letter outlining your financial expertise, charity experience and any interests in public health nutrition not otherwise mentioned in your CV.
The role, responsibilities and Person Specification is outlined below:
Trustee Role, Responsibilities and Person Specification
Financial Oversight
Overview of Trust
Salary: Voluntary/unpaid. Expenses incurred while travelling to meetings.
Hours: 4 – 6 Board meetings a year. Ad hoc committee meetings.
Tenure: 2 years, eligible for a further tenure.
Location: Central London
The Object of the Charity: to promote public health and in particular (though without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing) to protect the quality of food for the public benefit.
The role of the Board of Trustees
- To promote and administer the charitable object above by the specific powers outlined in the governing document.
- To receive assets from donors, safeguard them and apply them to the charitable purposes of The Caroline Walker Trust (CWT).
- To keep proper accounts of all monies received and paid for on behalf of the Charity.
- To make regulations for the management of the Charity and an awards scheme.
- To assess the changing environment and approve the organisation’s strategic direction.
- To keep a record of the proceeding of the Trustee’s meetings where decisions have been made.
- The Board must always act in the best interest of the trust.
- The Board must act as a group and not as individuals, making decisions as a collective.
Duties of a Caroline Walker Trustee (Treasury)
- To ensure the CWT complies with its governing document, charity law and other relevant legislation or regulations.
- To ensure the CWT pursues its objects as defined in its governing document.
- To ensure the CWT applies its resources exclusively in the pursuance of its objects.
- To contribute actively to the board of trustees by giving firm strategic direction to the CWT, setting overall policy, defining goals, setting targets and evaluating performance against agreed targets.
- To safeguard the good name and values of the CWT.
- To ensure the Financial Stability of the CWT by being certain that the finances are adequate for its current needs and its short to medium-term strategy.
- To approve major policies, major actions of the organisation such as capital expenditure and major changes in activities and services.
- Each trustee should use any specific skills, knowledge or experience they have to help the board of trustees reach sound decisions. This may involve leading discussions, identifying key issues, providing advice and guiding new initiatives, evaluating or offering advice on other areas, such as finance, marketing, law or public relations in which the trustee has particular expertise.
In the case of a person with treasury expertise, the Trustee is also expected to;
- Present budgets, accounts and financial reports to the board for approval.
- Ascertain whether the financial resources of the organisation meet its present and future needs.
- Ensure the appropriate accounting procedures and controls are in place.
- Liaising with any contractors, stakeholders, sponsors, corporate donors and financial institutions about financial matters.
- Advising on the financial implications of the organisation’s strategic plans.
- Ensuring the organisation is compliant with legislation and charity commission regulations.
- Ensuring the annual accounts are prepared, presented to the board and received by the external examiner prior to lodging with the charity commission.
- Keeping the board informed about its financial duties and responsibilities.
- Contributing to the fundraising strategy of the organisation.
Minimum Time Commitment
- Trustees are expected to read over the induction pack before their first board meeting.
- Trustees are expected to attend all board meetings. Board meetings are held 4 – 6 times a year after regular office hours. Board meetings last for approximately two hours.
- Meeting dates are arranged four months in advance.
- Trustees may be asked to join one of the committees, including audit and strategy along with acting as a financial spokesperson for PR and fundraising.
- Trustees from an accountancy background are expected to take part in advising and updating our money giving pages, budgets and sponsorship documents.
- Trustees can claim out of pocket expenses incurred in travelling to meetings.
Person Specification
- A commitment to the objectives and aims of the CWT.
- A willingness to attend board meetings and ad hoc committee meetings.
- Integrity and strategic foresight.
- Good, independent judgement without conflict of interest or self-interest.
- A willingness to speak your mind and to challenge any information put forward.
- Provide candid and constructive criticism, advice, comments and praise.
- An understanding and acceptance of the legal duties, responsibilities and liabilities of trusteeship.
- An ability to work effectively as a member of a team and to make collective decisions for the good of the Trust.
- Previous Board experience.
In addition to the above, we are seeking someone with
- Accountancy qualifications and experience.
- Experience with SORP and financial regulations for charitable/non-profit organisations.
- Ideally a Chartered Accountant status, or at least a studying member of a relevant professional accountancy body.
- The skills to analyse proposals and examine their financial consequences.
- Past experience with fundraising and funding applications.
- Preparedness to make unpopular recommendations to the board.
- Demonstrated leadership and management, communication and presentation skills.
Apply by email to [email protected]
Interview with CWT Media Campaigner of the Year 2020
Edwina Revel and Georgia Leech are on a mission to improve the health and wellbeing of children and their families. Both Registered Nutritionists with the Association for Nutrition, the team, provide nutrition training for those working in the early years to ensure a consistent approach to delivering key nutrition messages to meet the diverse needs of families.
The team have supported early year’s settings to put nutrition at the heart of their practice from reviewing menus to meet national guidelines and providing training to ensure staff are equipped to support children to achieve a healthy weight, to reduce their risk of dental caries and to promote physical activity.
As public health nutritionists, the team at Early Start Nutrition are passionate about ensuring all children have access to nutritious and affordable food. They believe that giving children the best start in life is the most effective way to address health inequalities by establishing healthy eating habits to take with them into their school years. Their work comprises support services for children, families and training for health professionals. They have also developed online tools and work to engage audiences through their social media accounts, enabling them to reach a wider audience, including training of 2,000 Early Years practitioners and health professionals.
How did you feel when you found out you were awarded Media Campaigner of the Year?
Winning an award from The Caroline Walker Trust is a career highlight for the team. As a Registered Nutritionist, it’s been a great way to raise awareness of our work and the importance of communicating messages in a way that supports those we work with to build their knowledge and confidence
What is your advice to other media campaigners?
Media provides a fantastic opportunity to talk about key nutrition topics. It’s a great tool to share positive and practical information to support those you are trying to reach. Planning is key, as is ensuring the information you share is evidence-based and within the remit of your expertise. Know your audience and tailor your resources to meet their needs.
What has been the most rewarding part of your role?
As early years nutritionists, we are so fortunate to work with nursery settings, along with a range of other professionals and of course, families too! Our job is extremely varied; one day, we can be delivering training and the next, we can be writing a blog and creating recipes. It’s really nice to feel that we’re making a difference to the children and families we work with.
What have you gained from the award Media Campaigner of the Year?
The award has helped raise the team’s profile, meaning we’ve reached more families and early year’s professionals. It’s also given us the confidence to further develop our media resources.
How did you celebrate when you found out you won CWT Media Campaigner of the Year?
As we received the award in the middle of a pandemic, we raised a glass over a zoom call. We are looking forward to celebrating with our colleagues soon!
You can read more about Early Start Nutrition award winning work on their CWT Media Campaigner of the Year page
Interview by Michelle Slater
Registered Nutritionist
CWT Annual Awards Committee Member
© 2021 The Caroline Walker Trust
Interview with CWT Freelance Nutritionist of the Year 2020
Lucy Williamson originally trained and qualified as a Veterinary Surgeon. She later went on to complete a Masters in Nutrition, registered, became a Registered Nutritionist and set up her own Freelance Nutrition Consultancy, combining her love of agriculture and farming with food and health.
As part of her freelance consultancy work, Lucy developed Food LINKS; a project that aims to provide affordable evidence-based nutrition support to help communicate the health benefits of British produce. Food LINKS creates opportunities for producers to diversity as they seek to adapt to changing food recommendations for public and environmental health. Lucy works with crop producers as well as building up consumer awareness that dairy, beef and responsibly sourced fish all have a key role as part of a sustainable, balanced diet. As an experienced vet, Lucy stands out as a freelance Nutritionist with a firm understanding of our agricultural systems and, therefore, the inextricable link between British food with its well-regulated high production standards and public health.
How did you feel when you found out you were awarded the Freelance Nutritionist of the Year award?
I’m just overjoyed to have been given this award that recognises the importance of communicating the value of our fabulous British food for our future health and the passion of those producing it at the start of the food chain. This Year I have learnt more than ever the value of working collaboratively to achieve more, especially when working freelance. I’m proud to be part of our profession reaching out together to inspire better health, and I look forward to forging stronger links between producers, consumers and good food. I can’t thank the Caroline Walker Trust enough for this opportunity.
What is your advice to other freelance nutritionists?
Surround yourself with other people taking similar paths to share and bounce ideas from one another. It can be quite lonely, giving you confidence in connecting with others and not feeling like you’re competing. Use each other to achieve what you want to achieve, e.g. more effectively, quickly or to make it more enjoyable. Connect and collaborate – we are so much stronger together.
What has been the most awarding part of your role as a freelance nutritionist?
Reaching out to the public is something I’ve always enjoyed doing and to be able to share helpful evidence-based information on nutrition. Being able to share that is something I’ve always wanted to do but the award has helped me to find a platform and a voice.
What have you gained from the award Freelance Nutritionist of the Year?
I have gained confidence and belief that the path I took was the right one to take. I’ve also gained focus on my work, and the award has validated this and help spread the word about the work that I do, such working in schools, lecturing and with food producers, which is really novel.
What are the benefits of being recognised by CWT as an inspirational freelance nutritionist?
It gives you the confidence to keep working on new ideas. Being freelance is not an easy route to take, but it’s great that my work and ideas have been recognised and that all the hard work is worth it. Being recognised by the award has also allowed me to connect and work with others.
How did you celebrate when you found out you won Freelance Nutritionist of the Year?
I spent the evening with my family with a glass of Kombucha, followed by some champagne and a big cake! My children were aged 9 and 12 when I went back to university to complete my masters in Nutrition, it was a tough time for my family, who has always supported me, so I was so pleased to share this with them to show them how grateful I was for their support.
What has been your biggest challenge as a freelance nutritionist?
The biggest challenge for me was not being part of a team, so that’s why it is so important to surround yourself the people in a similar field, so you have support.
How did you overcome these challenges?
I was a mentor for a master’s graduate and since have employed her to work a couple of days a week, so it is great to be working in a team environment again. I always find it is more fun and rewarding working with others.
You can read more about Lucy’s award winning work on her Freelance Nutritionist of the Year page
Interview by Michelle Slater
Registered Nutritionist
CWT Annual Awards Committee Member
© 2021 The Caroline Walker Trust
Interview with CWT Food Campaigner of the Year 2020 (joint winner)
Feeding Britain works through partnerships with food banks, local community organisations, politicians and companies to develop, trial, evaluate, and submit as policy recommendations initiatives that prevent, relieve, and abolish hunger, malnutrition, and food security in the United Kingdom.
Their projects aim to help those facing barriers to nutritious food, on the grounds of accessibility or affordability, to overcome them with dignity and without stigma. Projects include Citizen’s Supermarkets, Children’s Kitchens, Pathways from Poverty and Healthy Holidays. Each project uses good food as a catalyst for improving people’s overall health and wellbeing – in households covering the entire age spectrum and for tackling poverty in a holistic manner.
Feeding Britain is also extremely successful in gaining favourable policy changes from the Government regarding social security, labour market, cost of living, and children’s nutrition policies.
How did you feel when you found out you were awarded Charity Food Campaigner of the Year?
It was a brilliant surprise in the best way possible. It was the coupling of the award with the results we were beginning to see over a period of time that really enabled our team to raise a smile and say against the most challenging backdrop we and our entire network has faced, we have achieved special things, and that was very pleasing to feel that and communicate as a team.
What is your advice to other charity food campaigners?
I always seek our movement and charity to be radical of its goals and pragmatic in the means of achieving those goals. Seeking innovative and, above all else, workable projects, programs and policies, to move us along the road to that broader societal change. My main bit of advice would be, don’t lose sight of the bigger picture, and think about what you can do today to change someone’s life even if its a small idea that can make a difference to disadvantage families along the way.
What has been the most rewarding part of your role as a charity food campaigner?
In particular, our work around holiday food provision; it was six years ago this summer the very first regional part of feeding Britain, feeding Birkenhead took place, the food bank showed us the most alarming data on what happens to children and families during the school holidays.
Feeding Birkenhead, we all came together as a community: church, learning centres, and libraries; all these wonderful community assets came together, and we lay on the most entertaining program of activities and meals, and this was a way to carry on school meals for low-income families.
Immediately we began to see the results, and the foodbank reported fewer families with children needing their help as a result. The teachers said the kids were returning to school full of life, more energised and ready to learn; they had stories to tell their mates about activities through feeding, so Birkenhead, we knew we were onto something both popular and effective.
We knew if the feeding Britain network grew geographically, this became a flagship national scheme and then to translate that into a policy recommendation and subsequently into a piece of backbench legislation which then ultimately succeeded in getting a commitment from the government that they would invest taxpayers money in a national program of this sort.
For our staff and volunteers, it showed that we were a part of something special. It gave us that relief, supporting immediate hunger and reintroducing the love of fresh and nutritious food for children and their families.
What have you gained from the award Charity Food Campaigner of the Year?
It really cemented the sense of our grass-root partners across the country that in undertaking day to day activities, they are also contributing to a movement that had been recognised and achieving really good systemic changes across the county. It’s their efforts that made this award possible, it’s worth our while being a part of this national movement because of what we are doing, being recognised in such a special way.
What are the benefits of being recognised by CWT as an inspirational Charity Food Campaigner of the Year?
The most immediate benefit was seeing the smile on the faces of our team; they plough away at this work day in and day out, so to see them simile when I shared the news that was the most incredible part. Secondary with the Caroline Walker trust we have the most brilliant organisation with an esteem group of people taking the time not only to learn about our work but to recognise our collective effort in such a way it adds to sense of motivation that one might not be barking up the wrong tree when we’re going about our day to day business.
How did you celebrate when you found out you won Charity Food Campaigner of the Year?
Me personally, I celebrated by sharing the news with the team; that was celebratory enough for me. Well, in a sense, it was a delayed reaction the wonderful certificate and award arrived in the post, and our team got together in our office and made sure upon unwrapping them to give them pride of place so when we’re at our desks, it’s firmly in the line of sight.
What has been your biggest challenge?
Above all else our organisation aims to offer an effective service that not only relives that immediate need but constantly seeks new innovative ways to prevent it and support children and families. Against any backdrop, that’s a challenge, and for any organisation, that is a challenge. The logistical changes in the past Year and ongoing trends, e.g. cost of materials, sourcing food that we need to offer a good service for families, has been difficult.
How did you overcome these challenges?
It’s thanks to the ingenuity of both our team and the whole network in constantly sharing good practice. Identifying things that work in one area then overcoming challenges to replicate them in another part of the county, that’s the blessing we have in an organisation like ours.
We have people in a network that can prepare a solution or have already done so and share the lessons of that. From our very first days at Feeding Britain we have drawn the collective firepower of voluntary and community sector but also local business, national companies and local and national government, so bringing that whole variety of voices into this common movement, we can all learn from and bring different perspectives that perhaps wouldn’t of occurred to us before which can help us now craft solutions.
Our doors are always open to anyone who shares our purpose, principles and wants to achieve what we want to achieve; yes were a national movement, but we are made up of local and regional partnerships which help bring people around the table who are concerned about their neighbours or people in their towns, cities, district or borough, and that can be a good focal point to get people involved to support children and families.
You can find more information about Andrew’s award-winning Feeding Britain on their Charity Campaigner of the Year Page
Interview by Michelle Slater
Registered Nutritionist
CWT Annual Awards Committee Member
© 2021 The Caroline Walker Trust
