GAIL's Lewes -x

Lewes Food Banks are seeking support. This beautiful affluent Town in the South East has another story to tell. With 12.8% of children (aged 0-15) living in a family affected by income deprivation, 10.1% of older adults (aged 60+) also affected by income deprivation and 1 neighborhood now featuring in the 20 % most deprived quintile for the country there is a real need for the work of our food banks in Lewes. Lewes Town supports 3 food banks (Fitzjohns, Landport and Malling food banks) with a 4th in the surrounding village of Ringmer. This network of much needed food banks provides an essential service to residents in need of emergency food assistance as we work towards the alleviation of poverty in our communities. Our food banks are facing increasing demands on our services due to the cost of living crisis, fuel poverty and national insurance increases along with the struggles of surviving in a post covid society. Sadly, our numbers are increasing but donations have decreased and so we are seeking additional supply sources. Our food banks provide weekly bags for single person households and families which are distributed on a Monday. These bags offer primarily ambient foods due to storage limitations but we do seek to offer our clients fresh fruit and vegetables whenever possible. Clients are referred to us via a number of partner agencies including Citizens Advice, Social Services, Health Care Professionals and Housing officers. The food banks also provide emergency services outside our normal distribution hours. Food banks are not just a source of food for our clients. We provide a connection point for many of our clients who feel isolated and overlooked in society. We offer our clients a warm welcome and treat them with dignity and respect during the difficult times in their lives. Our collective goal is to challenge the stigma of poverty.Lewes Food Banks are seeking support. This beautiful affluent Town in the South East has another story to tell. With 12.8% of children (aged 0-15) living in a family affected by income deprivation, 10.1% of older adults (aged 60+) also affected by income deprivation and 1 neighborhood now featuring in the 20 % most deprived quintile for the country there is a real need for the work of our food banks in Lewes. Lewes Town supports 3 food banks (Fitzjohns, Landport and Malling food banks) with a 4th in the surrounding village of Ringmer. This network of much needed food banks provides an essential service to residents in need of emergency food assistance. In addition to our food services, we provide signposting advice for our clients to statutory bodies that are able to provide assistance and further practical support. In an ideal world we would no longer have the need for food banks in our society but that is not the case right now. As a network of food banks we are always actively seeking donations of food, money and volunteers to ensure that our valuable work in our community can be sustained.

In October 221 a small team set up Uckfield Community Fridge on land near to the Foodbank and Luxford Field, backed and supported by the town council. The essence behind a community fridge is to fight food waste and support local people. It does this by collecting leftover food from businesses, then making it available to local residents and community groups free of charge. This includes individuals with limited access to affordable fresh and nutritious food. The project is a simple solution to wasting less and saving more. We liaised with local supermarkets regarding food donations and they have informed us of the desperate situation they have found people in, sometimes raiding supermarket bins for free food. Quite rightly they have expressed the health and safety issues with this. The community fridge would enable people access to this food without those unnecessary risks. Strict monitoring guidelines based on advice from the Food Standards Agency and the Council’s Environmental Health team ensure the fridge will operate to the highest quality standards. We are sure you are aware of the food poverty crisis and the particular impact of food poverty on children and their future. Universal credit payments have increased by 201% in our local area over the last year, and this is before the furlough scheme has ended. On a local social media group we have been aware of mothers pleading for help from strangers to pay for their children’s dinner. For people in need there is the foodbank, which offers emergency provision and should not be viewed as a long-term solution. For some there is a stigma tied to using foodbanks and people may be reluctant to make initial contact. Food parcels are nutritionally balanced and consist of tinned and dried foods. Foodbank use has increased year on year so there is clearly an on-going local need. We keep in touch with Uckfield Foodbank to complement each other’s work. However, the main difference is that Community Fridges are set up to be a longer-term feature of a community. They operate on a trust basis, are not means tested and are open to all. Community Fridges offer a source of fresh good quality food surplus for everyone. In many cases the most frequent items moving through the fridge are fruit and veg. Community fridges aim to bring people together to see good food be shared and eaten, instead of going to waste.

We hand out weekly food parcels from Christ Church, Prince Edwards Road, Lewes to provide food, essential toiletries and household items to individuals and families in need residing in lewes and local surrounding areas. We receive donations of food and financial support from many local businesses, schools, churches and individuals.