B&Q Brighton

Moulsecoomb Community Market (based on the social supermarket model) is about giving people some dignity and choice about what food they eat as well as providing access to a more varied and healthier diet. People are asked to pay a very small, nominal feel for membership and that entitles them to choose a fixed number of items that are coloured coded according to cost and/or availability. This is what residents wanted, when we asked them. We are not in competition with the local shops, we are not in competition with supermarkets, we are a community led group that aims to make life a little easier for the people that are struggling the most... Moulsecoomb is on the outskirts of Brighton a world away from the bright lights, the piers, the Lanes and the night life. It houses large estates and many people have lived here for years and have generations of their families living close by. It is a close knit and friendly community. However, it is very much part of the ‘other ‘ face of Brighton. Many people in the ward really struggle with the expense of day to day living and Moulsecoomb in particular has already been identified as being in the top 10% of the most deprived areas in Britain. Unemployment rates are high and health outcomes are well below the national average. There is mounting evidence of increasing poverty and hunger and the pandemic only served to highlight and exacerbate the huge divide between the ‘haves’ and the ‘have nots’ in Brighton. We currently open once a week and aim to provide people with a selection of fresh, good quality fruit and vegetables, frozen food and basic cupboard items, as well as some household items. We ALWAYS have sanitary products that are free and can be taken in addition to any food chosen. We are always grateful for ANY food cupboard items, but would also welcome any personal hygiene items.

Kennedy Street Foundation CiO (known as Kennedy Street Recovery) was set up by myself, Clare Kennedy and my husband, Kevin Kennedy (Curly Watts from Coronation St). We are both in long term addiction recovery and very active in the community. Our project has been running as a community interest company since 2014. Then re-registering as a charity foundation since 2020. With the support of many great volunteers, we launched our exciting Brighton based Recovery Hub in September 2022, which offers a safe, visible, alcohol and drug free space, where those seeking recovery including their families, can start their recovery journey. Our ultimate objective, is to inspire those choosing recovery, to become the very best they can become, to build dignity, self respect and to encourage those in recovery to become outstanding, inspirational, fulfilled members of our community. We have a volunteer training programme that offers those in abstinence based recovery a chance to learn new skills including peer mentoring and recovery coaching certifications. Our peer mentors also design and run morning workshops that are available for all our clients and members to attend and these can range from mindfulness, creativity, physical health and mental health and wellbeing. In the corporate setting we encourage the companies we work with to demonstrate forward thinking corporate responsibility by offering organisational support via staff involvement and sponsorship. We work in partnership with numerous Brighton and Hove services including; * Brighton & Hove City Council * Police crime commissioner * Probation * Sussex Pathways * CGL * St. Peters Church * Knight support * Rise * Sussex Beacon * St. Mungos * Oasis * Move on * BHT * First Base The surplus food that is donated is used to produce a daily meal that is free to all our volunteers, new clients and long-term members. A suggested donation is always welcome but not necessary. We also offer via our drop-in recovery cafe, which we open daily 2-5pm, a menu of freshly made food (from our end of day fresh produce) and drinks for clients who are still in active addiction but are interested in finding out more about recovery. Any produce which we have at the end of the day is available for our volunteers to take home. We currently work in partnership with Fareshare To Go, collecting end of the day fresh produce once a week, however we are open every week day and keen to provide fresh food throughout the week.

Each Friday we open our Food Bank in Portslade Town Hall. We are open from 12.00 -2.00 to those seeking help. We receive food from the Company "Fare Share " who collect surplus food from supermarkets and local companies .This food is handed out to individuals and families in the BN41 Post Code area who have been referred to us by professional agencies. Many of these people are living in poverty, they have mental health and medical issues and their accommodation is far from secure. We pay £10 per week for this delivery service - the food is free. We have been operating out of Portslade Town Hall for three years and the numbers of people being sent to us is rising. We have had as many as 105 people in one week. This puts a strain on our resources and we have to limit the amount of food we hand out. This is not a good situation as it causes distress and genuine panic among our clients. We are constantly looking for other sources of food. Some local Food Banks have given us generous donations of food and our local schools and churches help whenever they can. We are still finding it hard to supply enough protein, fresh fruit , vegetables, bread and milk. In order to ensure they never go away hungry we prepare and serve up to 80 meals each week to those who come to us to collect supplies. Much of this food is donated by a volunteer and is supplemented by a grant of £10 per week from the local healthy neighbour hood fund.We seldom have anything leftover. We have freezers and some cupboard space, so can store all types of food . Surplus fresh food is made into jam, chutney, soup, pasta sauce etc in order to utilize everything. We run workshops with local experts to encourage the clients to learn cookery skills, budgeting. They also have access to training courses and accommodation options. We are more just than a Food Bank to many people.