Beyond the Foodbank: A Systems Thinking Approach to Strengthening Community Support Services

About the project

About the Project About the project Many individuals and families across the UK are affected by food insecurity and rely on foodbanks alongside a wide range of health, welfare and community support services. These organisations provide essential help, but they often work independently. This can make it hard for people to find the support available to them, and hard for providers to coordinate their efforts, while capacity to fully meet people's needs remains limited. This PhD project builds on a successful research placement with Leicester South Foodbank, funded by the Collab Research Hub. The placement found that over 40% of people using the foodbank were experiencing priority debt, and 28% were living with the ongoing impact of a physical or mental health condition. Many also needed support beyond emergency food, including healthcare, housing, employment and financial advice. It highlighted the need to see referral support as a connected network rather than a collection of separate services. The researcher will use systems thinking, an approach that looks at how the different parts of a system connect and influence one another, to map the wider network of organisations supporting people experiencing food insecurity across Leicestershire. This includes foodbanks, healthcare providers, housing services, employment support, financial advice organisations and local authorities. Using interviews, surveys and workshops, the project will explore where gaps, overlaps and weaknesses exist in referral pathways, and what helps or hinders organisations to work together. Stakeholder workshops will bring organisations together to co-create practical solutions and shape an evidence-based framework for strengthening collaboration. The project will produce recommendations for Leicester South Foodbank, partner organisations and local authorities to improve joined-up services and better meet the needs of the people they support. It also contributes towards the Trussell foodbank network's ambition of ending the need for emergency food. By extending the placement to a larger scale, the research will generate knowledge that can support more coordinated, resilient and person-centred community support systems across the UK. This project has been co-created with and is supported by researchers from De Montfort University and Loughborough University, and partners at Leicester South Foodbank. The successful candidate for this project will be enrolled at De Montfort University. Project Aims and Objectives The project objectives are: Map the wider network of statutory, voluntary and community organisations supporting foodbank users. Test and validate the key themes identified through stakeholder interviews during the research placement using a large-scale survey of organisations involved in food support and related services. Apply systems thinking to examine referral pathways, organisational relationships and information flows, identifying opportunities to strengthen cross-sector collaboration. Co-create, through stakeholder workshops, an evidence-based systems framework and practical recommendations to improve coordination, referral processes and integrated service delivery. Generate transferable evidence to inform policy and practice for foodbanks, local authorities and community organisations seeking to develop more connected and resilient support systems. What is Collaboratory? Collaboratory is a research programme, led by Universities for Nottingham and the Leicester Universities Partnership, that places community knowledge and experience at the heart of research. This eight-year initiative is pioneering a new approach to collaboration, working closely with local communities and community-focused organisations to develop and deliver research that addresses the needs and priorities of local communities. Who are we looking for? Collaboratory aims to bridge the gap between academia and communities through a holistic programme of co-created research that actively embeds public groups within its research. As we strive to establish an innovative approach to conducting PhD research, we seek candidates who can demonstrate a deep knowledge of and commitment to Leicester Leicestershire and Rutland and communities. Prospective candidates should demonstrate the extent to which they meet the project competencies, detailed in the full advert on the Collaboratory website. How to Apply Applications to all Collaboratory 2027 PhD studentships must be submitted through our online applications portal. It is strongly recommended that prospective applicants attend one of the online support sessions, prior to submitting their application. Full details of the Collaboratory programme, studentship funding, eligibility criteria and link to the application form can be found on our website at collaboratoryresearchhub.ac.uk/2027-studentships. Applications open at 11am on Monday, 5th October 2026 and close at 11:59 pm on Sunday, 29th November 2026.

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