I became a politician to improve access to food for everyday people across Wandsworth. This award is evidence that i'm doing it!
Wandsworth won the award for most improved council in the last Good food for All Londoners awards and I am over the moon. For as long as the awards have existed Wandsworth Council has been nothing but consistent in its bottom ranking and the insistence of the then administration, now minority party, not to work on improving it. Not only didn't they want to address the glaring issues that it highlighted - lack of affordable access to food, transport issues across the borough, children going to school hungry, but the distain in which they responded to my question about this was appalling.
It seemed their fragile egos could not handle the criticism as it came from an external body, supported by the Labour London Mayor.
I've always seen our ranking as a challenge to improve. And we have.
Kudos to be given to my cabinet colleagues who have listened to me talk about food non stop for 5 years and subsequently have supported the endeavours; the schools team who have taken the mantle forward with an innovate scheme that allows parents to opt out of Free school meals instead of in, removing the needless barrier of paperwork; and the policy officers who have started to write our borough wide food strategy.
Next year we will be at the top!
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