You can help to provide healthy, dignified access to food in your local community.
Local food projects support thousands of people across Brighton & Hove every week, from emergency food to community meals and social supermarkets.
Browse the ideas and examples below about supporting local community food providers.
Could you share your skills, time and enthusiasm at your local food project?
Damien not only volunteers his time at Pankhurst Pantry, but takes leftover produce home to share via Olio and Social Media.
“What’s a few hours of my time for the difference I make to people? And those people are helping us grow personally as well. I would like to say thank you to everyone, because not only is it brought together a community. It’s providing a much-needed service.”
“What’s a few hours of my time for the difference I make to people? And those people are helping us grow personally as well. I would like to say thank you to everyone, because not only is it brought together a community. It’s providing a much-needed service.”
What can your business offer to benefit food project teams?
In November 2025, Hilton Brighton Metropole hosted the Emergency Food Network Thank You Event. The hotel provided its venue, donated drinks and canapés, arranged a DJ and shared staff expertise to help celebrate local food project workers. Support from Hilton, alongside gifts from other local businesses, gave volunteers a chance to relax and recognise their shared achievements, demonstrating the value of strong business–community partnerships.
Are your community members ready to take creative action?
A local faith group wanted to run a fundraiser for their nearest food bank. They came up with the idea to run a skills auction, where members of the community could offer their skills up for bids. The auction ran online and in-person, and they raised over £2,000 through offering unique experiences, including an expert-led kayak trip, a linocut workshop with a local artist, and a 3-course meal cooked up by a chef.
Could you put on a show for a good cause?
Drag performer Spectre raised a grand total of £900 in one night with a special festive fundraiser event in Dec 2023. The audience could enter the raffle either by buying a ticket, or by bringing food to donate to St John the Baptist Food Bank. Funds raised went to provide practical support to households who are facing poverty in our city via the Food Partnership and Citizens Advice B&H.
The Performers gave their time, including Alex Fincher, Tricky, Tina Teeth, Dante, Jack Fruit, Dick Day, Pina Busch, Darling Leon, and Prince of Persia.
The Performers gave their time, including Alex Fincher, Tricky, Tina Teeth, Dante, Jack Fruit, Dick Day, Pina Busch, Darling Leon, and Prince of Persia.
Top tips
- Donating money is one of the most effective ways to help. It enables projects to buy what’s most needed, cover essential running costs, plan ahead, and take preventative action. One-off gifts are wonderful, but regular donations that projects can rely on are especially helpful.
- Food donations are welcome, but check they meet the project’s needs. Food should be unopened, in date and in good condition. You can donate at your local supermarket or contact your closest project to find out what they need.
- Food projects rely heavily on volunteers. These rewarding roles range from cooking and packing food, admin, social media, fundraising, deliveries and offering a friendly welcome. Projects benefit most from volunteers who can complete an induction and commit to volunteering reliably, even for just a few hours each month.
- Each year we share updated guidance on ‘how to help at Christmas’. Sign up to our fortnightly newsletter to receive these helpful resources.
- Plan ahead of the winter holidays. Christmas is an especially busy time for food banks and community projects, so donations of money, food or gifts before Christmas Day are particularly valuable.
- Check our ‘how to help at Christmas’ resources for any festive volunteer vacancies. Many projects simply can’t take on new volunteers at this busy time, but opportunities for regular volunteering are available throughout the year.
- Organise a visit to your local food projects to get to know what they do.
- Make a one‑off or regular donation to a local food project.
- Find food drop‑off points and give surplus or long-life food.
- Consider small, regular financial donations, such as the equivalent of one hours wage a month.
- Raise money creatively through birthdays, challenges, community events or workplace activities.
- Offer your unique skills or practical help. Professional skills such as fundraising, marketing, social media, IT, finance, cooking or evaluation support are very helpful. Many projects are disability confident or able to offer adjustments, so do ask. Some projects welcome young volunteers, including university students or those completing Duke of Edinburgh (DofE) awards, but please check age requirements with the project first.
- Become a trustee and use your experience to support a food project at a strategic or governance level.
- Help make projects more inclusive by supporting translation, accessibility or outreach work.
- If you grow food, share your surplus produce via community fridges, food pantries or local projects.
- Ask your employer if they offer matched funding for donations or fundraising.
- Follow Brighton & Hove food partnership and local projects on social media to respond quickly to urgent needs. Subscribing to our fortnightly newsletter is another great way to stay up to date.
- Share information, challenge stigma around food insecurity, and support campaigns for a fairer, healthier food system. The Alliance for Dignified Food Support, Feeding Britain , Sustainable Food Places , and Trussell are all excellent organisations to follow to stay informed on this topic.
- Consider leaving a gift in your will to support local food projects in the future.
- Partner with food projects near you that match your group’s values and can share mutual benefits. You could choose a local food project as your ‘Charity of the year’ to build a sustained relationship.
- Be realistic about group volunteering. One‑off group volunteering days can be resource‑intensive and beyond the capacity of some smaller projects. Larger projects may offer structured team‑volunteering opportunities, so ask what’s available and what renumeration they would need.
- Show your support by having your next group meet at a local community cafe. Many offer meals, coffee and treats on a pay‑as‑you‑feel basis, so please pay generously or pay-it-forward if you are able.
- Run a fundraiser, appeal or food collection at your workplace, school, gym, community group or place of worship. Make a one‑off or regular donation to a local food project to provide reliable support.
- Support members who can volunteer regularly, helping projects plan ahead.
- Donate the skills of your group such as admin support, marketing, IT, evaluation or catering.
- Create a lasting partnership with a local project, provide ongoing sponsorship or make them your ‘Charity of the Year’. Make a personalised donation of funds, resources or equipment that can help them upgrade their service to best support their particular client base.
- Show your support for local food projects by hiring their chefs to cater at your next event. Some excellent options for events catering include Lunch Positive , Sussex Surplus and The Real Junk Food Project Brighton
- Provide regular supplies by arranging supermarket or wholesale deliveries based on project wish lists. Donate supermarket or local shop vouchers if food donations aren’t suitable.
- Offer access to meeting rooms, storage, vehicles, equipment or kitchens if you have the space.
- Share your professional expertise via one-to-one consultations, subsidised services, or consider providing free or heavily subsidised training to food project teams.
- Enable employees to donate food or money through payroll giving, matched funding or on‑site collections. Support regular, ongoing employee volunteering rather than one‑off days.
- Consider what you can do to support the hard-working volunteer teams providing essential food support every week. Organising care packages, ‘thank you’ vouchers or wellbeing activities for volunteers are ways to show your appreciation.
- Tackle food waste by reducing your surplus and supporting surplus food redistribution to local food projects.
- Support national campaigns and join local initiatives tackling food insecurity, such as the The Alliance for Dignified Food Support or the Food SOS campaign.
want to do more to tackle food insecurity?
Use your networks to raise awareness, challenge stigma and support fairer, healthier food for all.
- The Alliance for Dignified Food Support, Feeding Britain , Sustainable Food Places , and Trussell are all excellent organisations to follow to stay informed on this topic.
- Follow Brighton & Hove Food Partnership and local projects on social media to respond quickly to urgent needs.
- Subscribing to our fortnightly newsletter is another great way to stay up to date.
