Friday 04-03-2022 - 10:47

West Lothian Students’ Association: Supporting Students in Food Poverty

In 2018, West Lothian Students’ Association was made aware of several students fainting in class having not eaten. This is not uncommon in colleges and universities across Scotland. NUS Scotland released a report last week called ‘Broke: How Scotland is failing its students’ which highlighted that 11% of FE students have used food banks.

"The biggest challenge for me financially at college is making sure I have money for food and travel to get to the college and worrying about if I have enough money to do me the rest of the week let alone the month." - Broke: How Scotland is failing its students

West Lothian Free Breakfast

Following a rising concern about the impacts of student food poverty, West Lothian Students’ Association applied for funding from their local council, which was associated with breakfast club funding in schools.  The SA was successful with this funding application.  The SA worked with the Estates Team to ensure the longevity of the funding.  They decided to buy equipment such as toasters and porridge urns in a bid to make the project sustainable. The SA, in partnership with the college, provides toast and porridge to all students free of charge.

Following the success of free breakfasts, the realisation of food poverty became a real discussion topic.  The SA met with the College Principal to discuss these worries and an agreement was made to trial free Soup and a roll at lunchtime for all students, in addition to the free breakfast. This provided a healthy nutritious option for students who were coming to college and unable to eat all day due to lack of finances. Both the breakfast and lunchtime soup are popular amongst students.

Year	Free Soup and Roll portions	Free Breakfast Total portions
2018-2019	1852	471
2019-2020	1128	586
2020-2021	570	1831
2021-2022	12912 -February	2136- February
Total	16462	5024

During the pandemic, it became apparent that food poverty was even more of a prevalent concern for students.  The Student Association worked in partnership with The Larder Catalyst Kitchen, a social enterprise company, to eliminate food poverty, actively referring students who needed food.  The Larder Catalyst Kitchen provided over 120,000+ meals to people in West Lothian during the pandemic.

In August 2021, the Student Association became a referral and distribution point for West Lothian College Students and their families, distributing over 50 home-cooked meals, provided by the Larder for Students on a weekly basis.

This service is a lifeline for our students who are choosing to heat their houses or feed their families.  Some students have been impacted by poor physical or mental health, some have had a reduction in income due to loss of full or part-time employment in their household and others are just finding student finances hard to manage with more money going out than coming in.  This service provides students with an opportunity to concentrate on their studies, their career paths and their future instead of worrying where their next meal will come from.

In January 2022 the hospitality students approached the Student Association and decided that they wanted to make and donate 3-course meal ‘Takeaways’ for students free of charge.  Their aim was to learn to prepare the dishes and these Students wanted to help others who were in need.

This free Friday ‘SA Takeaway’ has now been introduced and is helping to eliminate food poverty, encourage dignity and increase student wellness.

Below are quotes from students who used these facilities:

“It takes a lot of the worry and anxiety away knowing that there is support not only for me but for my kids too”

“helps ease stress and helps me worry less and ease my mental health”

“These services are the difference between me and my son been able to eat sometimes”

 

Working in partnership

The West Lothian SA student kitchen is supported financially by the college. The project has seen a vast reduction of fainting incidences reported through the Health and Safety committee due to a lack of food.

The SA has gone on to partner with various organisations such as The Trussell Trust to become a referral centre providing foodbank vouchers for students in need. They have also worked closely with ‘The Larder’ to expand the number of meals they’re able to provide to students – including getting a funded fridge at the SA. The SA provides 50 meals every week to students and their families.

All students who engage with the project are encouraged to fill out a feedback form about how the service can be improved as well as some of the factors contributing to their need e.g., unemployment, mental health and/or low income. There are options within the feedback form for students to ask to be referred to appropriate support services such as careers advisors, counsellors, or benefits support.

Leading to more change 

Information collected in the feedback forms has been used to create more positive changes within the college including the provision of a microwave on campus (successfully campaigned for by the current President) and the SA to partner with local organisations to support student parents with clothing banks for school uniforms and Christmas presents for children. The college also has an onsite restaurant for the hospitality courses it provides, and excess food from the restaurant is given to students in need for free every week.

West Lothian’s top tips for supporting students in food poverty

• Gather evidence about the extent of food poverty in your college/university-run surveys asking students about the availability of food for them, how this is impacting them, and their awareness of other support avenues. This might include how the requirements of their course impact their ability to afford food e.g., volunteering requirements in the course, increased costs of learning from home, etc.
• Partnership is key – working with your institution will help make sure that students get the best support possible. It’s also important that staff are aware of the project and some of the challenges around food poverty stigma and how to support students with this.
• Agree on how to measure the benefits – having a before and after the measure of success will help make sure you’re impacting students in the best way. Providing feedback opportunities for students will help you develop the service to have the biggest impact – including gaining financial support from key stakeholders.
• Recognise the impacts of food poverty stigma and other barriers to engagement – barriers to engagement could include things such as showing student ID, location of the food, and dietary requirements e.g., gluten-free bread.
• Don’t be afraid to run a trial – providing free breakfast and lunch might feel like a big step. Why not try giving out free fruit or snacks?
• A joined-up approach works best – working with local and national charities can help provide you with the skills to provide for students (food hygiene, etc.) and help you navigate any challenges and answer questions.

Sustainable support

Finally, students are provided with as much information as possible to encourage them to engage with college and external support services. The SA is aware that despite the food provided having a positive impact on students, often there are factors contributing to this which will continue outside of college hours as well as once students have left the college. Therefore, setting students up with sustainable support is a key aim of the project.

If you’d like to hear more about the West Lothian Students’ Association's approach to food poverty you can get in touch here.  

If you’d like to submit a case study or have any questions about the #LoveSUs campaign, please email uniondevelopment@nus.org.uk. #LoveSAs #LoveSUs