Community Food Initiatives

Safefood's €1.5m investment supports local food initiatives across Ireland.

The programme's scale and funding will double, supporting 28 Community Food Initiatives across the island of Ireland.

May 2025: Safefood today announced the recipients of funding for their new Safefood Community Food Initiatives Programme 2025-28, a €1.5 million investment to positively influence the eating habits of people in low-income communities across the island of Ireland. The four-year initiative will support 28 community organisations in setting up and implementing their work.

Welcoming the launch of Safefood’s Community Food Initiatives Programme, Minister for Health Jennifer Carroll MacNeill TD said: “Unhealthy food choices are increasingly becoming the norm, impacting the health of our population. I am encouraged by the focus of Safefood’s Community Food Initiatives, which are more than just a source of learning about food; they build practical skills and knowledge at the grassroots level. I welcome that these local projects foster connections within communities, aiming to create a future where healthy eating is realistic, achievable, and accessible to all.”

Northern Ireland’s Minister of Health Mike Nesbitt MLA added: “Our food environment has changed dramatically in recent years, and we are tempted to eat more unhealthy foods at every turn. This has impacted on the health of our population across Northern Ireland and there is a real need to increase access to healthier food and empower people in low-income communities to make healthier food choices. I look forward to working with Safefood and their Community Food Initiatives to ensure that healthy eating is within the reach of everyone in every community.”

Dr Gary A. Kearney, Chief Executive, Safefood continued: “We’re excited to launch our latest round of Safefood Community Food Initiatives. They have a proven track record of effectiveness and success, and we want to extend their impact by doubling the scale and increasing the scope of our work to include not only good nutritional and healthy eating help but also including ‘tips and trips’ around food safety for members of the public. In addition to the 28 projects, which will be funded for 4 years announced today, we are introducing a new cross border partnership that will fund a further 4 cross border projects. We will also be funding 25 additional one-off community projects each year under the scheme. This year marks 15 years since we first started working among communities and more than 65,000 people have taken part since then. By supporting people in low-income communities, these projects have the potential to create long-lasting changes in how people shop, plan and cook food. Ultimately, this work is about improving the access to, and availability of, healthy and safe food in our communities.”

The beauty of our last project was that it was responsive to, and shaped by, what families said was most important to them. The home-from-school cookery programme was a suggestion from participants attending the love your lunch picnic, developed by a dietician and piloted here at the ARC.
- Jenny Irvine, CEO of the ARC Healthy Living Centre

One example of the local initiatives receiving funding is ARC Healthy Living Centre in Irvinestown, Co. Fermanagh which will work with families and people living with an addiction by delivering a project focussing on the benefits of growing and eating fresh, homegrown food and working to establish a local food co-operative.

Jenny Irvine, CEO of the ARC Healthy Living Centre said, “Our work involved a series of small projects run over time to build skills and knowledge and large community events, reaching large numbers of people with information and ideas for high nutritional value low-cost food options. The beauty of our last project was that it was responsive to, and shaped by, what families said was most important to them. The home-from-school cookery programme was a suggestion from participants attending the love your lunch picnic, developed by a dietician and piloted here at the ARC. We are delighted and very grateful to receive ongoing support from Safefood. The new project will take on board past learning, and we are excited for the future and have lots of fresh new ideas.”

The Community Food Initiatives are co-ordinated by SECAD Partnership. Ryan Howard CEO said: “SECAD Partnership is delighted to be coordinating the Community Food Initiatives 2025-28 again for the next four years, continuing our long-standing partnership with Safefood. Our organisation has been actively working in communities for over three decades, building strong networks and developing innovative, locally driven solutions to address complex social challenges. Since our first involvement in 2016, we have worked closely with local development and community organisations to explore practical and sustainable approaches for improving access to healthy food for individuals and families. Over the next 4 years, Safefood and SECAD, will support the CFI leader organisations, who are drawn from grassroots organisations and who understand the specific needs and strengths of the communities they serve. They will lead programmes designed to empower participants with the skills and confidence to make healthier food choices. These initiatives will be developed in collaboration with community members, ensuring the solutions reflect lived experiences and can be adapted and shared across regions. Our goal is to help foster innovative, inclusive, and lasting models that will improve healthy eating habits in a way that is both affordable and accessible. Through continued collaboration with Safefood and our community partners, SECAD Partnership is excited to support positive, change for individuals and families across the island of Ireland.”

For more information on The Community Food Initiatives (CFI) Programme 2025–2028 visit: www.safefood.net/community-food-initiatives.

#CommunityFood

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Editor’s Notes:

The full list of recipients of the 2025-2028 Community Food Initiative funding are:

South Dublin County Partnership (Dublin)
Dublin Northwest Partnership (Dublin)
Airfield Estate (Dublin)
Dublin South City Partnership (Dublin)
Ferns Diocesan Youth Service (Wexford)
Knockanrawley Resource Centre (Tipperary)
Rosemount Family Resource Centre (Dublin)
Sacred Heart Family Resource Centre (Waterford)
Ballyhoura Development CLG (Limerick and Cork)
Mid West Simon Community (Limerick, Clare and North Tipperary)
Silver Arch FRC (Tipperary)
PAUL Partnership Limerick CLG (Limerick)
IRD Duhallow CLG (Cork and Kerry)
The Glen Resource & Sports Centre (Cork)
Bundoran Community Development CLG (Donegal)
Croí na Gaillimhe Resource Centre (SVP) (Galway)
Galway City Partnership (Galway)
Inishowen Development Partnership (IDP) (Donegal)0
Greater Village Regeneration Trust (Antrim)
Marion Centre of Excellence CIC (Antrim)
ReachOut (Antrim)
Hope Magherafelt (Derry)
Clanrye Group (Down and Armagh)
County Armagh Community Development (CACD) (Armagh)
Loughshore Care Partnership (Armagh)
Rural Health Partnership (Armagh)
ARC Healthy Living Centre Ltd (Fermanagh)
Old Library Trust, Healthy Living Centre (Derry)

About Safefood

Safefood is the all-island body set up under the British-Irish Agreement with a general remit to promote awareness and knowledge of food safety and nutrition issues on the island of Ireland.