express your views and life experiences

Research[i] conducted in 2018 for Edinburgh Food Project concluded that the problems which triggered clients’ food crises are often caused by underlying issues with mental and physical health, benefits, families and relationships.  Edinburgh Food Project’s ‘More Than Food’ approach seeks to develop and deliver other support services within a foodbank setting. In early 2020, Edinburgh Food Project was awarded funding to develop and deliver community based mental health and wellbeing support services for people accessing food banks.

In order to generate insights which could inform the detailed design of these services, in early 2021, Edinburgh Food Project conducted research into the views and perceptions of service users, volunteers, and service providers on their experiences of mental health and wellbeing services and the opportunities for improvement.

This report describes the evidence generated by that research, and the analysis and conclusions arising from the evidence.

[i] More than Food? Exploring the needs and views of those who come to foodbanks, RESEARCH FINDINGS, October 2018, Authors: James Tulloch, Mark Borthwick, Sara Friend, Funded by the Scottish Government’s Aspiring Communities Fund with support from the European Social Fund.