An appeal to raise money to provide food for vulnerable and isolated people in Brighton and Hove during the coronavirus crisis topped £30,000 in just 21 days.
And now the generous public response has been matched by Brighton and Hove City Council which has also donated £30,000.
The council said that it was working with the Brighton and Hove Food Partnership to support more than 50 community volunteer groups providing food parcels and meals to residents struggling to get food.
It said: “Requests for help from food banks have more than trebled since the start of the outbreak and the community response is proving a lifeline for many.
“The additional money raised through the appeal means the food partnership can bulk buy more food and essential items for food banks and community groups to continue this vital work.”
The council said that some of the money raised so far had been spent in various ways.
- Food banks are giving out more than 1,400 parcels a week – up from around 400 a week before the outbreak
- The food partnership has bulk purchased £3,617 of food, including pasta, rice, tinned fish, milk, and eggs, which has been passed on to food banks, projects making meals, and used to make food parcels
- Ten sacks of carrots, five sacks of onions and 20 sacks of potatoes from local farms have been shared out
- £7,500 has been passed on to partner projects to buy supplies of food
- The food partnership hub has made 80 parcels which have delivered directly to people’s doors by volunteer and council drivers
- More than 1,800 meals have been delivered to people, including using surplus ingredients donated by cafes and restaurants that had to close
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Labour councillor Anne Pissaridou, who chairs the council’s Environment, Transport and Sustainability Committee, said : “The community response to this pandemic has been remarkable – they hit the ground running to make sure vulnerable residents could get the food they needed.
“I would like to thank all the local community volunteers and everyone else who has volunteered to help out, donated surplus food or contributed to the appeal. I’m really proud of our community’s response.
“I would also like to thank our partners at the Brighton and Hove Food Partnership, local community groups and other organisations in helping to get food out to those who need it most in the difficult circumstances we find ourselves in.
“We are delighted that we are contributing £30,000 to match the donations of the community, to help ensure this essential service continues.”
Vic Borrill, director of the Brighton and Hove Food Partnership, said: “We have been blown away by the generosity of the people of Brighton and Hove, who donated an incredible £30,000 in less than three weeks.
“Donations ranged from £5 to over £1,000 and we are grateful to each and every person who is helping ensure no one in our community goes hungry at home.
“With the fantastic news of match funding from Brighton and Hove City Council, we can scale up the bulk purchase of essential items from tea to tomatoes, toilet roll to tuna.
“We’ve already started distributing these products through our network of partners who are getting food straight to people in need.
“Thank you and please keep supporting and sharing the crowdfund campaign.”
