Committee member role.

About this programme 

The Black Food Fund is a 2 year learning programme. It builds on three years of community-driven design and prototyping. In this phase of the work, we will bring together a group of people (aka the committee). All with a connection to the local food system in Lambeth and Southwark

As a group they will be responsible for administering c. £450k worth of grant funding. This funding will focus on strengthening locally-rooted support for food entrepreneurs. The ultimate aim is to improve the local food system. Ensuring all families can access healthy and affordable food.

This work is funded by Impact on Urban Health. Housed by Shift. Facilitated by Hello Brave. 

To read more about why this work exists click here. 

Key role information 


You’ll be paid: Up to a total of £15,000 over 2 years (£500 day rate)

Time commitment: Approx 30 days from Nov 2023

Location: You must live or work in Lambeth or Southwark. Regular meetings will likely take place on Zoom with the occasional in-person meeting. 

Expression of interest deadline: 28 September 2023. 

About the role

As a member of the Black Food Fund Committee, you’ll be part of a collaborative group. The focus of this group is to distribute funding to help strengthen local support for food entrepreneurs. All members will live and/or work in Lambeth and/or Southwark. 

This group will be responsible for deciding how to spend £450k worth of grant money. This will include the design, management and governance of the Black Food Fund. The committee will be supported and facilitated by Shift and Hello Brave. 

As part of this role, you’ll: 

  • Join a series of onboarding meetings.

    This will include: learning more about the journey to establish the committee. Build relationships with other committee members. Making decisions about the committee design (e.g values, roles, and the grant-making process).

  • Join bi-monthly committee meetings.

    This will include: designing funding opportunities. Reviewing funding proposals. Making decisions about what gets funded (for current and future grantees). Make decisions about the future of the committee itself

  • Join monthly working sessions and offer ad hoc support. 

    This will include: providing support (where needed) to current and future grantees. Working with grantees on their funding proposals. Staying up to date with grantees and learning about their progress. Helping grantees to course correct if needed. Supporting grantees to use funding towards the objectives of the fund. Completing discrete tasks and make progress on outstanding actions

  • Join a reflection session every 6 months. 

    This will include: reviewing what’s going well for the committee and grantees. Reviewing and reflecting on grant and committee processes. Agreeing on recommended adjustments to processes

  • Support and contribute to open sharing (e.g. blog writing, podcasts, reports).

    This will include contributing to  and sharing learnings (e.g. blog writing, podcasts, reports). Making sure the committee is sharing learnings consistently and openly 

All members of the Black Food Fund Committee will receive up to a total of £15,000 over 2 years. This will cover up to approximately 30 days over that time at a day rate of £500.

To apply you must: 

  • Live in, work in or do work connected to Lambeth and / or Southwark

  • Have a passion for improving health and wellbeing through food 

  • Have an interest in addressing inequalities and making positive social change 

  • Have lived, learned or professional experience in  at least one of the following:

  • the local food system, ideally in Lambeth and Southwark

  • working with Black families living in Lambeth or Southwark

  • Black food cultures, communities and systems

Note: only applicants demonstrating lived, learned or professional experience of at least one of the bullet points above will be invited to an initial 20 min screening call. 

You’ll be perfect for this role if you also bring other relevant experience to the committee. Examples include but aren’t limited to experience in:

  • local innovation and entrepreneurship

  • designing / delivering support for food entrepreneurs at a local level (ideally South London, Lambeth and Southwark)

  • food innovation and entrepreneurship 

  • accessing, obtaining, designing or delivering social investment 

  • knowledge or experience of sustainable food systems

  • funding / community-led or participatory funding

  • supporting the local community and working within local community groups

Your experience and expertise can be from life, work or study.

We also want to bring together a group who can work well together. So, we’ll be looking for a mix of complementary vibes, approaches and learning styles.

Who we’re looking for

We are currently recruiting six initial committee members for the Black Food Fund. 

The committee calendar.

For a full list of proposed dates please look here. 


Please note: Dates are subject to some change. Please share in your expression of interest if there are any dates you know you can’t make. This won’t impact your eligibility.

Our commitment to equity

Through this work, we are also learning how to fund in more fair, just and equitable ways. We’re interested in applications from people who have different levels of experience*:

  • Working within funding institutions

  • Sitting on decision-making committees

  • Holding power within existing granting processes 

*This can range from no experience at all to a lot of experience.

We also want to hear from people who aren't well-represented in grant-making processes. This includes but is not limited to:

  • People who are Black or of mixed-Black heritage

  • Parents and primary caregivers

  • People who are living on incomes under £400 per week

  • People living with a disability or health condition

  • People who are neurodivergent

  • People who have special educational needs

  • People who have experienced homelessness or living in temporary accommodation

  • People who are part of the LGBTQIA+ community

How we’ll select the committee

To recruit the Black Food Fund committee we have selected a Recruitment Panel. They bring the experience of families, Black food, funding, entrepreneurship and/or community power. The Recruitment Panel are responsible for, designing and stewarding the recruitment process. They are also responsible for selecting the final committee.

The Black Food Fund Recruitment Panel are: 

Marie Mitchell.

Chef, Writer and Entrepreneur.

Melek Erdal.

Inclusive Economy Consultant, Writer and Cook

Sabrina Seid.

Local Resident, Youth Worker and Parent.

Will Nicholson.

Health and Wellbeing Consultant and Social Entrepreneur. 

  • We welcome applications from anyone who lives and/or works in Lambeth or Southwark.

    Applicants should also fulfil the criteria for this role. See criteria here. We cannot appoint anyone who currently:

    • Works at or is a trustee for Impact on Urban Health

    • Sits on the Black Food Fund Recruitment Panel

    • Holds a grant from the Community Initiatives Steering Committee.

    If you have questions about your eligibility please contact bella.hunt@shiftdesign.org

  • Members of the Black Food Fund Committee will spend approx. 30 days spread across 2 years. This will include 1 - 2 days dedicated to the process of onboarding.

    It will include one 2-hour committee meeting and up to 4 hours of ad hoc meetings or working time per month. Max investment per month should be 1 - 2 days.

  • Anyone eligible can apply for Black Food Fund grants except:

    • Current members of the Black Food Fund Committee

    • Relatives of current members of the Black Food Fund Committee

    • Organisations or projects owned, led, run by or which have direct involvement from a current Black Food Fund committee member

    Current member status lasts for 6 months after someone leaves the committee.

    There is a grey area here so if you’re not sure about this please contact bella.hunt@shiftdesign.org

  • This work is funded by Impact on Urban Health.

    The Black Food Fund was designed in partnership with a co-design group including people living and working in Lambeth and Southwark.

    The administration is held by Shift Design. Design and facilitation is held by Hello Brave. This recruitment process is led by the Black Food Fund Recruitment Panel.

    To see more detail of who’s been involved click here.

FAQS

Here are some questions that should help you decide whether to apply. If there are questions. you have that aren’t covered in this role description of FAQs please contact us.

How To Apply

To apply please fill in this short expression of interest.

The Process and Timelines:

Submit a short expression of interest 

Short form to tell us you’re interested. Approx 15 mins to complete. Deadline: 28 September 12 pm

…

20-min screening calls 

Calls all eligible applicants to learn more about you, and your fit with the committee and to answer any questions you have about the Black Food Fund. Dates: 12 September - 2 October 2023

…

10 shortlisted candidates announced 

We’ll use the screening calls to select 10 shortlisted candidates. We’ll do this using the criteria outlined here. All applicants will be contacted. Dates: 3 - 6 October 2023

…

Collective Recruitment Session

All shortlisted candidates will be invited to a 2.5-hour in-person group session. Venue TBC. This will be an opportunity to meet the panel, share more about yourself and see how you work in collaborative groups. Date: 13 October 2023 1 pm - 3.30 pm. 

…

The final 6 candidates announced 

We’ll share feedback with all candidates and let everyone know the final six candidates that have been selected to join the committee. People who joined the Collective Recruitment Session but weren’t selected will receive a £100 thank you. Dates:  18 - 20 October 2023

…

Contracting and agreements 

We’ll share a plain English contract with you to review, discuss and sign. The contract will be collective, outlining the responsibilities of committee members, Shift, Hello Brave and Impact on Urban Health. Dates: from 23 October 

…

Committee Onboarding 

We’ll then kick off the work with a month of onboarding sessions to get you settled in. Our regular rhythm of committee sessions will start in Jan 2024. Dates: 20 November - 18 December 2023. 

NOTE: All dates are subject to some change

We’ve designed this process to reduce barriers to engagement from those who we’d love to centre in this work. If this doesn’t work for you, drop us an email at bella@shiftdesign.org

Get In Touch

If you have any questions about this process or would like to have a chat about this role please email bella.hunt@shiftdesign.org