WHO WE ARE WORKING WITH
Organisations who are taking nutrition seriously…
We are privileged to be accrediting, supporting and working with a wide range of organisations and individuals who are positively influencing our food environment and food culture.
These are organisations who understand the value that nutritious food plays in a sustainable food system and wider sustainable development – and the important role good nutrition plays in supporting health, wellbeing and productivity.
Through working together to raise nutrition standards and knowledge, we can help make healthier food choices easier, supporting the health of people and planet.
Organisations who have shown a clear commitment to raising nutrition standards and knowledge, supporting the health and wellbeing of their customers and employees.
Organisations who are working towards full accreditation, making positive changes to raise nutrition standards and support better health, wellbeing and productivity.
Organisations with shared beliefs and aims, including corporates, public health bodies and other not-for-profits, that we have provided nutrition & wellbeing training and expertise to...
CASE STUDY: DONATIONS TO DINNER: STRENGTHENING HEALTHIER FOOD PROVISION IN BUCKINGHAMSHIRE FOOD BANKS
Raising Nutrition in Food Banks
Summary of the impact in numbers:
- 4 food banks supported
- 47 volunteers trained
- 3 food banks awarded the RaisingNutrition Accreditation
- 60,000+ additional vegetable portions projected through food parcels annually
- Volunteer confidence in helping clients plan balanced meals up by 33%
Buckinghamshire Council funded a year-long pilot programme, delivered by RaisingNutrition, working with four food banks across Buckinghamshire to strengthen healthy food provision and help ensure the food reaching families in need can genuinely support balanced, nourishing meals.
The pilot built on the excellent work already taking place across the food banks, providing a structured programme of tailored training, practical resources and ongoing support — helping teams think carefully about the food they provide and how to make sustainable, positive improvements within the realities of how food banks operate.
A key part of the programme was our Donations to Dinner training, which encouraged food bank volunteers and staff to focus on how food works together as meals for individuals and families — rather than simply as a collection of individual donated items — and in particular on the important role of vegetables in supporting a balanced diet.
One of the valuable learnings from the pilot was that focusing on whether food parcels can support balanced, practical meals is a more achievable and impactful approach than trying to measure and improve nutrition at a granular level, given the variable nature of food donations. Small, practical changes — to picking lists, donor communications and volunteer knowledge — can make a meaningful difference to the food reaching families.
Following the programme, three food banks — Aylesbury Vineyard, Chiltern Food Bank and Bridge the Gap — achieved the RaisingNutrition Accreditation, recognising their sustained commitment to embedding healthier food provision into their policies, practices and everyday ways of working.
“We are committed to supporting healthier communities across Buckinghamshire, and this pilot shows how practical changes can make a real difference for families using food banks. By focusing on what people can actually cook and eat at home, rather than simply what is donated, this work helps ensure support is both meaningful and nutritionally balanced. It is encouraging to see local food banks leading the way and achieving accreditation through this programme.”
Isobel Darby, Buckinghamshire Council’s Cabinet Member for Health and Wellbeing.
“The accreditation isn’t about setting impossible standards — it’s about giving organisations the tools, support and recognition to build on what they’re already doing well and embed lasting change into how they work. These food banks have shown a genuine commitment to thinking carefully about the food they provide, and the accreditation reflects that.”
David Titman, Director of RaisingNutrition
“It opened our eyes to whether the food we are giving is sustainable and practical.”
Food Bank Volunteer, Buckinghamshire Pilot
case studY: SUSTAINABLE NUTRITION STRATEGIES
The ICC Birmingham
The International Conference Centre (ICC) in Birmingham became the first conference and events centre to become fully Accredited by RaisingNutrition in early 2024.
The team at the ICC are passionate about providing a top-class service to their event and conference delegates and an important part of this is being able to ensure their food offering supports their client’s health, wellbeing, and productivity, both on the day and beyond. The Accreditation has provided an opportunity to help differentiate their approach further, building on their well-developed sustainable food strategy with a greater focus on nutrition within this.
In achieving the RaisingNutrition Accreditation, they have shown and continue to show a great commitment to making positive change, including developing staff knowledge on nutrition through enhanced training, redesigning purchasing and menu development processes, and developing communications to help further promote and encourage healthier options.
“We had previously created a specific set of menus providing a healthy lunch offering, which worked well. However, we wanted to take this one step further, understanding both the positive influence we can have on our delegates’ wellbeing and the importance of nutrition in our wider sustainability strategy.
Working with RaisingNutrition gives us the scope and professional support to introduce sustainable nutrition markers and food policies that will encompass all aspects of our food production, service, and sales processes, touching our entire food offer.
This is a huge step for us, and will also encompass our staff dining facility and all of our recipe development. We have been inspired by the RaisingNutrition team who are able to offer us the support, knowledge, and insight to take this step.”
Craig Hancox, General Manager at the ICC
Training & Consultancy
“Working with RaisingNutrition has provided us with valuable advice and support enabling us to provide a more nutruitious offering. The team are extremely knowledgeable and approachable, a real pleasure to work with.”
Employee Well-being
“The workshop by RaisingNutrition was really great, I genuinely learnt a lot that I can put into practise, and had a good time.”
Accreditation
“Working with RaisingNutrition is going to be a game changer.
Moving forward they will enable us to promote menus rich in a variety of whole plant foods, improve our catering team’s and the wider communities knowledge of what healthier and sustainable food means – and understand its impact on wellbeing.
They will help fulfil our goals of improving the lives of others through healthy and sustainable eating”
Strategic Support
“Working with RaisingNutrition gives us the scope and professional support to introduce sustainable nutrition markers and food policies that will encompass all aspects of our food production, service, and sales processes, touching our entire food offer….”
Nutrition Education
“RaisingNutrition gave a very informative, knowledgeable, and interactive talk in an easy to digest format for my level 1 college students.”
CASE STUDY: HELPING VULNERABLE PEOPLE ACCESS HEALTHIER FOOD OPTIONS.
One Can Trust
“Working with RaisingNutrition has provided us with valuable advice and support so that we may ensure our emergency food parcels are both nutritious and complete in terms of providing 3 meals a day for our service users.”
Jo, Manager at the One Can Trust Food Bank
The One Can Trust is a charity based in High Wycombe, that has been operating a food bank since 2011, serving the town and the wider area of South Buckinghamshire. In the last 12 months alone they have provided over 11,300 food parcels for individuals and families in crisis. They also run various community based food and cooking initiatives and provide wider assistance to help people get the support they need.
The charity achieved our accreditation initially in May 2024, having achieved the bespoke objectives, that were jointly agreed, following our initial assessment of their operations against the RaisingNutrition Accreditation Framework.
We look for organisations to show evidence of a commitment, and usually an improvement, to making eating healthier food choices easier across each of the 4 main accreditation modules.
1) Ensuring a commitment of nutrition is integrated into sustainability strategies and governance,
2) Enabling healthier food choices to be available,
3) Encouraging healthier food choices through the wider food environment
4) Empowering people to be better informed about healthier food choices and nutrition for wellbeing.
They clearly achieved their objectives, building on a strong existing commitment to providing the community with healthier food. These included:
- Training for staff and volunteers to build nutrition knowledge and how to use this knowledge to create more nourishing food parcels and support their clients further.
- Revising packing guidelines to raise nutritional standards of the parcels. For example, reducing the inclusion of sugar and sugary snacks and focusing more on nutrient dense foods and fresh foods where possible.
- Increasing the level of vegetables and fruit, either tinned or fresh, within parcels to better support the ‘5-a-day’ recommendations.
- Ensuring the promotion of good nutrition is actively considered as an integral part of all community initiatives
Our support has been on a pro bono basis as part of our commitment to helping to support healthier food for those most in need.
We are continuing to support One Can Trust through our Accreditation Community, which includes providing access to resources including webinars; and we are delighted to now be working with Buckinghamshire County Council to support additional food banks across the County.
CONTACT US
Get in touch
Please send us an email with any queries and to discuss the accreditation or any of our wider services. We will get back to you a.s.a.p.