Today 30 people gathered for the Feeding Gloucestershire district launch in Gloucester. Headed up by Feeding Gloucestershire people were invited from all over the district to meet, network and share ideas and look to collaborate more in the future. We were introduced to the Sustainable Food Places coordinator Jenny who spoke about the county going for its bronze award over the coming year. Jenny asked, are people able to access healthy food? Can hospitals, schools, prisons etc in our county have access to sustainable food. What about food waste and do we ask the question enough of what waste does the food we buy or grow produce and how can that be used.
Feeding Gloucestershire seeks to ensure that everyone in Gloucestershire has access to good food and that no one goes hungry. We asked the question, how do we have a more joined up approach, what are the opportunities and challenges for us all. It was fantastic to see a broad range of organisations in the room, meeting and chatting, learning from each other. It is important that we are all there, no one can solve the problems on their own and no one has all the solutions. If we all play our part and work together, we can move forward.
Deb Baker Feeding Gloucestershire Network coordinator gave a very inspiring speech referring to Pandora’s box saying, “When we unpack the issues, at the bottom of the box is hope. We need to keep moving forward and keep going.”
A day like today is important to meet and act. However, a day like today is wasted if nothing changes. Remember your connections, remember your learning, and keep moving forward, one step at a time. The ones and twos we help makes a huge difference to the lives of those individuals but together we can do more and make the numbers into the hundreds and thousands.
It was so lovely to be treated to lunch from the ‘Eat Well Wagon’ (link coming soon) who were awarded their 5 Star food hygiene rating today (#Congratulations). A delicious lunch of wraps, jacket potatoes and salad as well as fruit kebabs made as the children who get to eat from the van during the Holiday Activity Fund (HAF). We also got to taste some delicious samples from the Gloucester Service station in partnership with Gloucester Gateway Trust www.gloucestershiregatewaytrust.org.uk
With my thanks to Feeding Gloucestershire, Debs and Gloucester City Council's Leanne I was so pleased to be a part of you with my role on the board of Feeding Gloucestershire I learnt a lot about the work being done from another district to my own in Cheltenham. Building on the work I started with Feed Cheltenham I’m thrilled to be a small cog in the big wheel of ensuring everyone in Gloucestershire has access to good food and that no one goes hungry.
For more information on the work of Feeding Gloucestershire please visit www.feedinggloucestershire.org.uk
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Who have you been born to be? 
Have you ever wondered how it must be easy for the rich and famous to do good to others. Or maybe the more money you have, does it become harder to give it away? 
​As I reflect on King Charles III coronation, I found this quote from him and thought, how right it is that we should all have this attitude. If we are all determined to leave the world or people that we interact with, better than when we first come across them, between us we can all do good to others and the world we live in.
Have a think? Who or what can you have a good impact on? In the words of Rudyard Kipling 
  "If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with Kings - nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds of distance run,
Yours is the earth and everything that's in it,
And = which is more- you'll be a man my son!"
   
What can you do this coronation weekend to make a difference to somewhere you live or someone in your community. Let's not forget that we can make a difference to others at any time of the year. A small act of kindness can make a big difference.
To know more please get in touch with me.