£5.1m project to tackle loneliness and obesity

The project, funded by The National Lottery Community Fund, will use the power of good food to connect people of all ages through growing, cooking and eating together.

Around 200,000 older people go over a month without chatting to a friend or family member and almost half of older people in care homes consider their depression ‘a normal part of ageing’.

With Food for Life Get Togethers, we will work with social hubs at the centre of communities. Friendships will have a space to thrive through healthier meals and improved wellbeing.

Food for Life “Get Togethers” has announced it is to join forces with six national partners.

The programme will work in some of Kirklees and Calderdale’s most disadvantaged and ethnically diverse areas.

James Cashmore, director of Food for Life, said: “Good food has the power to change lives. Currently, UK families eat the most unhealthy “ultra-processed” food in Europe and a third of children leave primary school overweight or obese. Meanwhile, more than nine million people often or always feel lonely, and young and older people lack opportunities to bond.

“During the four-year programme, there will be three main annual events organised by Food for Life to support activity in Kirklees and Calderdale.

“We know that having the chance to get together, share a fresh, healthy meal and have a chat can change people’s day to day lives.

“The events will inspire healthy relationships between people, their food and one another.”