What Independent Food Aid Network does

Independent Food Aid Network (IFAN) is a UK registered charity (Charity number 1180382) founded in 2016 and headquartered in London. It operates as a national membership network representing independent food aid providers outside the Trussell Trust network, with 777 member locations and a database of over 1,172 independent food banks across England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland. Its operational mission is to advocate for a 'cash first' or income-focused approach to food insecurity, connecting people facing financial hardship with income-maximizing support services rather than relying solely on emergency food parcels.

IFAN's core product is the 'Worrying About Money?' resources project, co-produced since June 2020 in over 135 local authorities. This offers step-by-step guides in multiple formats — leaflets, interactive web versions, posters, translated versions, easy read, BSL, and audio — built around a postcode-based search tool integrated with OpenStreetMap. Supporting products include Member Surveys (quarterly data collation on emergency food parcel distribution), member-led reports and briefings, Money Counts Training for frontline workers, and a member network with regular meetings and joint advocacy actions. Digital infrastructure is a standard charity website plus social media presence across five platforms; no APIs, SDKs, or AI/ML capabilities are disclosed.

IFAN is a non-profit with no commercial revenue model. Its services, resources, and support are provided free of charge to member organizations and individuals. Funding derives from public donations (processed via PayPal), grants — including from the Scottish Government for the 'Worrying About Money?' project — and co-funded research collaborations with partners such as the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, Trussell, Child Poverty Action Group, Nourish Scotland, and Public Health Scotland. Revenue is not publicly disclosed. The organization is led by Director Sabine Goodwin (since 2018) with a team of approximately 6 employees plus a board of trustees including Prof Jon May (Queen Mary University of London).

Name

Independent Food Aid Network

Legal name

Independent Food Aid Network

Website

https://foodaidnetwork.org.uk

Company type

Private

Founded year

2016

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Independent Food Aid Network is a UK charity that advocates for independent food aid providers and promotes a cash-first approach to food insecurity through its 'Worrying About Money?' resources, member surveys, and policy advocacy across 777 locations.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Charity / Food Aid Advocacy Services

NAICS

Community Food Services (62421), Community Food and Housing, and Emergency and Other Relief Services (6242), Emergency and Other Relief Services (624230)

SIC

Services-Membership Organizations (8600)

akta.pro primary industry

Food Assistance & Food Banks (BPAGAEAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

Food Assistance & Nutrition Relief (Emergency Feeding) (BPAGAAAD), Nutrition & Food Security (Global Health) NGOs (HLAJAKAH)

Keywords

• Food aid advocacy
• Food bank network
• Cash first approach
• Food insecurity research
• Poverty support services

Headquarters

HQ city

London

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Independent Food Aid Network (IFAN) is a UK charity that advocates on behalf of independent food aid providers through publishing data, reports, briefings, and infographics; co-producing 'Worrying About Money?' step-by-step local cash-first resource guides across 135+ local authorities; running Money Counts Training for frontline workers; and convening a member network across 777 UK locations. All resources, training, data, and advocacy services are provided free of charge to member organisations and the public.

Product overview

IFAN operates a network-based advocacy and support service rather than a traditional software product. The core offering consists of the Worrying About Money? resources (step-by-step cash-first referral guides), member surveys (data collation from independent food banks), reports/publications (advocacy and research), Money Counts Training (frontline worker education), and the member network connecting independent food aid providers across the UK. These products work together to advocate for income-focused approaches to food insecurity and reduce reliance on charitable food aid.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• 'Worrying About Money?' resources project: Step-by-step guides co-designed for people facing money worries and support workers to identify cash first or income-focused local support services
• Cash First
• Money Counts Training

Products and services

• 'Worrying About Money?' Resources Step-by-step guides co-designed for people facing money worries and support workers to identify local agencies best placed to help people maximise income and access financial entitlements. Available as leaflets, interactive versions, posters, and in translated, easy read, BSL, and audio formats.
• IFAN Reports and Publications Regularly published reports, research, briefings, open letters, and infographics documenting food insecurity across the UK and supporting evidence-based advocacy.
• Member Surveys Regular collation of data from independent food banks across the UK, tracking emergency food parcel distribution, demand trends, and operational challenges.
• Money Counts Training Training sessions linked to the 'Worrying About Money?' resources, run in partnership with local stakeholders to help frontline workers and volunteers support people facing financial hardship.
• Member Network and Advocacy UK-wide network connecting and supporting independent food aid providers, facilitating best practice sharing, policy advocacy, joint actions with national partners, and access to member resources.

Quantifiable outcome

• 177% increase in emergency food parcels distributed by independent food banks comparing May 2019 with May 2020
• +5 more outcomes

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration1 record

Feature2 records

Partnerships

16 partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Child Poverty Action GroupcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 March 2024Co-authored 'Building 'cash first' momentum while breaking the food bank paradox from the ground up' report published March 2024.
• TrussellcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 October 2023Joint authors of 'A Cash First Future' report (October 2023). Also collaborated on briefing documents regarding food banks and the Scottish Welfare Fund.
• Joseph Rowntree FoundationcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 February 2022Joint authors of 'Pushed to the Edge: Poverty, Food Banks, and Mental Health' report published in February 2022.
• Nourish ScotlandcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 June 2021IFAN and Nourish Scotland co-published a report on promoting a 'cash first' approach to food insecurity in Scotland, focusing on lessons learned from developing 'Worrying About Money?' leaflets. The partnership has been instrumental in advancing cash first policy in Scotland.
• Dr Rachel LoopstracoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaboration with Dr Rachel Loopstra at King's College London on a study of independent food banks operating across England. Research was first published in The Guardian in May 2017.
• A Menu for ChangecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaboration to collect food parcel data across Scotland. The partnership has produced significant research on emergency food parcel distribution in Scotland.
• Migration Policy ScotlandminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaboration to co-produce 'Moved to Scotland and Worrying About Money?' resources, expanding the reach of cash first support materials.
• ScotCencoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCommissioned by IFAN to undertake evaluations of 'Worrying About Money?' leaflets' impact in Scotland, with reports published in November 2021 and November 2024.
• Scottish GovernmentcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerScottish Government funding has supported IFAN's 'Worrying About Money?' resources project. The Scottish Government's plan 'Towards Ending the Need for Food Banks in Scotland' includes Action 6 supporting IFAN's work.
• Public Health ScotlandminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPublished report on what community food initiatives can do to support cash first approaches to food insecurity (February 2024), referencing IFAN's work.
• Health FoundationminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPublished research referencing IFAN's work on relationships between income and healthy life expectancy (July 2024).
• Citizens Advice ScotlandminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaboration on food insecurity work including the Shopping Card Pilot and Food Insecurity Pilot report.
• Greater Manchester Poverty ActionminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaboration on strengthening the role of local welfare assistance, including publications on 'cash first' approaches.
• Edinburgh Community FoodminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-published 'Cash First: information, toolkit and resources' in December 2023.
• North East Child Poverty CommissionminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCommission recommended every local authority in the North East to work with IFAN to co-develop a cash first referral leaflet.
• Queen's University London (Prof Jon May)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerProf Jon May, a Trustee of IFAN and Professor of Geography at Queen Mary University of London, has been researching food insecurity and the UK's emergency food sector since 2014 and helped establish IFAN in 2016.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Turn2us: UK charity helping people access benefits and grants through a digital tools and helpline. Comparable as a complementary service addressing the income-maximisation outcomes IFAN's 'Worrying About Money?' toolkit aims to drive.
• FareShare: UK-wide charity redistributing surplus food to a network of frontline charities including food banks. Overlaps with IFAN's constituency of food aid providers and addresses the same end-user need for emergency food access.
• Trussell Trust: Operates the UK's largest branded food bank network, directly serving the same people facing food insecurity as IFAN's members. Despite a partnership with IFAN (joint 'Cash First Future' report), Trussell is the largest comparable UK food poverty organisation.
• Child Poverty Action Group: UK charity focused on child poverty and welfare rights; co-author with IFAN of the March 2024 'cash first' report. Highly comparable as a UK policy advocacy and research organisation addressing poverty drivers behind food insecurity.
• A Menu for Change: Scotland-based partnership gathering evidence on food bank use and pushing for cash-first approaches. IFAN collaborates with it on emergency food parcel data; directly comparable in advocacy focus and policy goals.
• The Food Foundation: UK food policy charity producing influential research (e.g. Food Insecurity Tracker) and advocating for systemic change. Highly comparable to IFAN's advocacy, data publication, and policy-facing role on food insecurity.
• Nourish Scotland: Scotland-based food and sustainability advocacy organisation; IFAN's published partner on the cash-first Scotland report. Comparable in mission (advancing income-focused approaches) and geographic footprint to IFAN's Scotland work.
• Citizens Advice / Citizens Advice Scotland: UK-wide advice network supporting people with welfare, debt, and benefit claims — the very outcomes IFAN's 'Worrying About Money?' resources direct users toward. IFAN has a documented collaboration with Citizens Advice Scotland on food insecurity pilots.

Broad incumbents

• Joseph Rowntree Foundation: Large UK foundation funding poverty research and policy. Joint author with IFAN on 'Pushed to the Edge' (Feb 2022). Operates more broadly across poverty, housing, and work but is one of IFAN's closest strategic collaborators on food poverty research.

Regional players

• Greater Manchester Poverty Action: Regional anti-poverty coalition covering Greater Manchester. IFAN has collaborated with it on local welfare assistance and cash-first publications, making it a comparable peer at a sub-national UK level.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/IFAN_UK
• Facebookfacebook.com/ifanuk
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/independent-food-aid-network
• Instagraminstagram.com/ifan_uk

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Independent Food Aid Network