"A life changer": Lewisham's trial of "Cash First" approach to food insecurity

CIC Legendary Community Club (LCC) ran an initial pilot of the Cash First approach to food insecurity in 2021 and they have now completed a community research project.

The project was funded by the Food Justice Community Grants Programme, which is supported by Lewisham Council and Lewisham Local.

They trialled a "money-first approach" to tackling food insecurity, which prioritises direct financial support over conventional food aid, such as food bank vouchers.

The research aimed to better understand participants' experiences of the money-first approach and its impacts on their lives.

It also tested three different methods of delivering direct cash payments to the participants.

Community psychology principles

The research project was based on community psychology principles and used a approach called Participatory Action Research (PAR), which emphasises participation and action by members of the communities affected by that research.

This meant that the project was co-designed with people with lived experience of food insecurity, including previous and new participants, local partner 999 Club and community members.

Michala, a co-researcher on the project said: "We firmly believe in community participation .. working with the community to figure out what they need."

Bertrand, peer coach at 999 Club and co-researcher said: "The 999 club is literally a hub in the community for homeless people.

"The LCC running a workshop with the community was a good idea, because you need to know what the working and the thinking is on the ground."

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LCC have made an accompanying film about the project: Co-Designing dignity: the Cash First story.

The film shares participants' experiences from the trial, exploring how Cash First works, how people used different payment methods and their preferences.

Although some describe good experiences with foodbanks, several participants mention the pressure to use food quickly, when it has been donated close to its use-by date.

Mustapha, a participant in the project, said: "This cash that I am getting actually helps my family, because we can go and buy stuff and keep it inside the fridge.

"We don’t have to eat it straight away like food bank food."

But another aspect is LCC's underlying principle that cash offers "dignity, autonomy, and real choice" that everyone deserves.

"One of the biggest questions and push backs you get back from giving people cash is 'oh what are they going to use it for?'" said Michala. "'Is it going to be cigarettes and alcohol and nefarious things?'  

"And I think one of the things our research shows is that, that's not the case. You know, people have much more important things to think about, things that they prioritize."

Maria, a participant in the project, described the impact as "just immense. A life changer."

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Alongside the film, LCC collected local data on food insecurity across Lewisham, using the Food Foundation’s standardised questions to understand the scale and nature of need across the borough.

They believe that this is the only dataset of its kind for the borough.

The next step of the project will be the release of the research report and data findings from the trial, building on the stories shared in the film.

They plan to use the findings to push for Lewisham council’s Crisis and Resilience Fund to be delivered through direct cash payments, which they argue "centres dignity, autonomy, and community power".

Regina, co-researcher said the research showed "why Cash First was important, what the impact was in in people's lives.

"And it also was able to really highlight the difficulties that people are already facing with the systems that are in place, and what they're having to go through."

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Watch Co-Designing dignity: The Cash First Story.