NOURISH HUB

    Client: London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, Nov 2018 – Jun 2021

     

    In 2018 Hammersmith and Fulham Council was awarded £1.1 million from the Greater London Authority Good Growth Fund to create a new community food hub and affordable workspace in the Edward Woods estates and introduce green infrastructure and food growing spaces around the hub and in White City, linking the two estates.

    Inner Circle Consulting steered the co-creation process across all stages of the programme, ensuring that the needs and aspirations of all stakeholders and everyone who would use and benefit from the project were represented. We were there at every step from project development, to community engagement and co-design, commissioning and construction. We then worked closely within the delivery unit to secure maximum value and return on investment – in both a social and economic sense – for the programme. We helped the programme partners to develop a sustainable operational business plan for the hub, securing its longer-term legacy and a model that could be replicated elsewhere to successfully achieve the programme’s desired outcomes to tackle food poverty and social isolation.

    The new ‘Nourish’ project will cook 200 healthy and affordable meals each day for local people, tackle food poverty, combat social isolation through activities and provide education programmes and training to support employment. This democratic social space is also a key opportunity for residents to work together as a community.

    The project has been recognised for its social value achievements and identified as best practice by the GLA, with the subsequent commissioning of an evaluation strategy and report so that lessons can be shared with other authorities.

     

    Our Impact

    • We built the capacity of the future operator (a local charity) by co-creating a sustainable business plan and identifying opportunities for future funding
    • The hub will directly address local issues of food insecurity, and support residents through its education and community programmes
    • The project achieved significant social value nearly equal to the contract award sum (£900k) throughout its development, including design and construction stages
    • We worked with other council stakeholders to join up the Nourish programme with school meals and other social programmes.
    Nourish Hub Inner Circle Consulting
    Nourish Hub exterior. © Inner Circle Consulting.
    Nourish Hub Inner Circle Consulting
    Nourish Hub interior. © Inner Circle Consulting.

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