Food Standards Agency
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Listen to this siteWednesday 11 April 2007
The Food Standards Agency (FSA) today announced that The Flava (Food Learning and Voluntary Action) Café, situated in the heart of Leamington Spa was one of two winners for the annual Dame Sheila McKechnie Award.
The local food initiative was selected from more than 50 applications from across the UK by a panel of judges that included the Food Standards Agency Chair, Deirdre Hutton, news broadcaster Jon Snow and Tim Lang, Professor of Food Policy at City University.
'The Healthy Eating For Life' community food initiative was also announced as a winner. The two runners-up were: Café 98 in Stockton and Food Skills for Life in Bournemouth.
The FSA established the awards in September 2004 to commemorate the contribution that Dame Sheila McKechnie made in helping to set up the Food Standards Agency in 2000. Sheila McKechnie was a lifelong consumer champion, having previously been director of Shelter and later Consumers' Association (now known as Which?).
The Flava Café works with a range of community members including people on a low income, children, lone parents, long term unemployed, older people, ethnic and religious minorities. At the heart of the venture is a vegetarian café, the 'Veggie Table', providing healthy nutritious vegetarian and vegan food to people on a low income.
The staff and volunteers seek to create an atmosphere that is vibrant, interactive and inclusive. On a weekly basis more than 900 people use their services, facilities, resources, support information and education. For all users the café forms a hub for a wide range of food projects and workshops, promoting education and training so people can gain key skills and experience of food preparation, menu planning and budgeting.
The initiative will receive £15,000 over a three-year period which will help to develop and expand the existing facilities and services as well as fund research into other areas.
'Highly commended' by the panel of judges, the two runners-up to the Sheila McKechnie Awards were:
Café 98, based in Stockton, home to The Corner House Youth Project. Co-ordinated by Lesley Makin, the café hosts training courses and a range of other valuable services and facilities for young people.
Food Skills for Life in Bournemouth - co-ordinated by Tony Gibbons, this initiative develops community champions to deliver training to their communities.
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Deirdre Hutton, FSA Chair, said: 'Sheila was an outspoken campaigner who worked incredibly hard to champion the rights of poor consumers. She would have been particularly proud to see her name associated with The Flava Caf
in Leamington Spa as she was passionate about providing food access and food education for all.
'The Flava Café was selected as a winner due to the valuable contribution it makes to the community and the fantastic job it does in educating and empowering people from vulnerable backgrounds. By giving people access to facilities, resources, support, information and education, the Café is a crucial function of the community and helps many people learn a range of important cookery skills from food preparation to menu planning and budgeting.
'The panel and the Food Standards Agency would like to congratulate the Flava Café and wish them continued success with their projects.'
Jon Snow, Channel 4 News presenter said: 'It's fantastic that the Sheila McKechnie Awards has found another outstanding winner. The Flava Café really impressed the panel by the atmosphere and enthusiasm the café has generated among young people in the area. The Sheila Mckechnie Award is all about empowering, educating and encouraging people and communities and this project has certainly achieved this with the local youngsters who are learning all about food in a fun, educational and hands-on-way.'
Steve Baylis and Richard Clarke, from the Flava Café, said: 'We are really delighted to have won this award. The grant will be of huge help to the Flava Café and will allow us to develop our ideas and expand further. The Café has become a real focal point of our area and all the people that are involved with this project; from the kids who are learning new ways of looking at food to the staff who get tremendous satisfaction from watching the kids be motivated and inspired by their efforts, this award will really help to keep this much needed resource flourishing in the local community.'
Back to topFor pictures of the award winners, for further information or interview requests for Steve Baylis or Jane Dobie from the Flava Café, please contact Ashu Sirdaw-Rajah on Tel: 020 7276 8888.
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Room 245 Aviation House,
125 Kingsway,
London WC2B 6NH
Telephone: 020 7276 8888
Out of hours duty pager: 07623 978344
Fax: 020 7276 8833
Email:
press.mailbox@foodstandards.gsi.gov.uk
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