Hurstpierpoint Foodbank volunteers at Willow Way Social Club
Hurstpierpoint Food Bank has been set up to help people in crisis in Hurstpierpoint and the surrounding local area.
The branch was opened up because of a need identified in the local area. Some may be surprised that the need is even higher than that of nearby Hassocks.
Members of Mid Sussex Green Party were told about this from the Burgess Hill Food bank and Nikki Sanger from Hurstpierpoint took on the role of co-ordinator for Hurstpierpoint and Burgess Hill Food banks.
Nikki said: “I was told that the closest food bank to Hurstpierpoint is Burgess Hill, and this can mean over a two hour round trip to pick up food. I remembered what it was like to have small children, little money and having to travel on buses to get basic provisions and I wanted to help.”
Keith Taylor MEP said: “I cannot praise those who have set up Hurstpierpoint Food Bank highly enough. They are doing a great service to their community. “The Hurstpierpoint Food Bank will be a lifeline to those in need. But at the same time, the fact that yet another food bank has had to be set up is a stain on the government’s record on poverty. Nobody in the sixth largest economy in the world should be in such poverty that they rely on food handouts.”
Full article is published in the February 2016 issue of Hurst Life magazine
To donate food...
If you would like to donate food or volunteer then please get in touch via our Facebook page or pop in on a Wednesday morning and donate food there and then. Non-perishable items only please as listed below:
Milk – long life or powdered
Tomatoes – tins and cartons
Tea bags and instant coffee
Baked beans & tinned spaghetti
Hot Chocolate
Tinned vegetables
Fruit juice – carton or bottle
Stock cubes
Bottles of squash
Jam, marmalade or peanut butter
Soup – tins or packets
Breakfast cereals
Pasta sauces – including cheese
Biscuits or snack bars
Tinned meat – including hot dogs
Nuts and dried fruit
Meat pies in tins
Sugar
Tinned fish
Tinned fruit
Instant mashed potato
Sponge puddings – tins
Rice, pasta and Pot Noodles
Rice pudding, semolina, custard – tins or pots
Tin of filled pasta e.g. ravioli
Dietetic foods – low sugar varieties
for those with diabetes and gluten
free for those with coeliac disease
To get help...
Distribution of food is through a voucher system.
To receive food, clients will need to obtain a voucher from one of our partner agencies. We have only one distribution point for vouchers in Hurstpierpoint at present:
Sussex Downs Children and Family Centre
Hurstpierpoint Village Centre
Mondays 9.30am-12noon, Fridays 1-3pm
01444 255477 / 01273 467968
There are other partner agencies including: Burgess Hill Citizens Advice Bureau, Sussex Police, Housing Needs Department (MSDC), Job Centre Plus in Haywards Heath and Youth Homelessness Prevention Team in Burgess Hill. See the here for more details.
Bags of food, individual or enough for three days for a family of four, will be available once a week in Hurstpierpoint at The Melting Pot Cafe at the Social Club, Willow Way, on Wednesdays from 9-11am. If this is difficult for you to attend, then please get in touch with one of our volunteers who may be able to arrange a mutually convenient pick-up point for you.