In this blog post, Good Food Oxford Manager Hannah Fenton shares the latest plans for changes in the organisation as well as a strategy for taking Oxford to the next stage of the Sustainable Food Cities Awards.

Hello dear friends and supporters of Good Food Oxford! Although I want to stay involved with Good Food Oxford, my role is going to change from the New Year. Instead of being the Manager, I’m going to become the Development Manager.

This job has been my dream job for more than four years, but the pressure of running the organisation, trying to deliver the Good Food Strategy for Oxford, and fundraise to keep us going, has been tough.

So with the Directors, we have decided that the best thing I can do for the organisation is focus on fundraising, income generation and consultancy. From January, I will focus on these and reduce the hours that I work for GFO to one day a week. If my fundraising is successful, we will be able to recruit a new Manager to take on the Strategy for Oxford, manage the team, and oversee projects.

I have had a fantastic time in this role. It has been such a privilege. But I now feel a new Manager with new energy (not necessarily new ideas!) will be the best thing for the organisation going forward. It’s a really exciting time, and the right person will absolutely flourish and take Oxford’s food strategy to the next level.

We do have serious funding worries and I am doing my best to fill the gaps whilst we wait for the next tranche of Sustainable Food Cities funding. So please, if you value GFO’s work, do consider setting up a regular donation to help us continue our work.

Now, hopefully ready for the new Manager, fresh out today is our Annual Report and our proposed Three Year Plan for Oxford. After receiving the prestigious Sustainable Food Cities Bronze Award for the ambitious work of Oxford's good food sector, we are now aiming for achieving the next level – the Sustainable Food Cities Silver Award – by 2021.

Download the Good Food Oxford Annual Report 2018/19

Download the three-year strategy plan

The three-year strategy is based on feedback at the last Annual Celebration, as well as two Deep Dive to Silver sessions with Steering Group and Advisory Group members. But it needs your input! I would be incredibly grateful if you would be willing to have a read and email your comments back to us.