What we fund
The Nutritional Wellbeing Foundation (NWF) provides core, unrestricted and project funding to charitable organisations that share our ambition - to improve the understanding of nutrition and its importance for health.
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Malnutrition is on the rise in the UK and childhood obesity is a significant public health issue, with serious long term implications for our children. It is estimated that around one in five are classified as obese by the time they leave primary school and the food industry's influence, socioeconomic inequalities, and the complexity of changing long-established habits can make this a difficult issue to tackle. Crucially young people aged 11-18 years in the UK consume three times the recommended amount of their total energy intake from free sugars. They also consume less than the recommended amounts of fruit, vegetables and fibre. Our funding is focused on improving the food on offer in schools and educating young people on nutrition, cooking and growing so that they leave school better able to make healthy food choices.
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NWF took on several of AIM’s multi-year nutrition grant commitments in early 2024 and those relationships will continue to be developed over the lifespans of the grants. We are currently supporting six ambitious and innovative organisations and we paid out nearly £300,000 in nutrition grants in the year to August 2024. For more information about our current grants please click here.
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Following a recent strategic review NWF’s primary focus will now be on secondary school communities, and we will be supporting partners working to improve school food and equipping young people to make healthier food choices.
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This new, grant making focus came into effect in early 2025.
Changing the system
Our grants seek to intervene at the level of the system, where change can have a wide and lasting impact. We use our funds to support work that changes policy, structures, mindsets and practice, focusing on collaborations, research, awareness raising, campaigning, good practice, testing & sharing.
Strengthening the sector
We fund infrastructure bodies that work to support and develop the sector. This includes supporting the professional development of practitioners, collaborative working, developing best practice and sharing learning.
Direct support
We support the direct work of organisations to improve access to quality food options, including free school meals, particularly in more deprived neighbourhoods.
Research
The Trustees ensure that all the research we fund is charitable, justified and undertaken for the public benefit. Results are disseminated to the public so that all can benefit from it.