Brighton food hub turns supermarket waste into healthy, affordable meals

A community-led project in Brighton is on a mission to tackle food waste, by rescuing surplus food from supermarkets and transforming it into healthy meals for over 100 local people per day.

Thanks to a £140,000 grant from The National Lottery Community Fund, the largest community funder in the UK, The Real Junk Food Project Brighton has already served over 20,000 meals.

The meals have been offered through its café, which opened in November 2022 and offers a ‘pay as you feel’ model to avoid excluding people financially, and through after school clubs for local children who receive free school meals.

Based in the Fitzherbert Community Hub, it has also expanded its opening times from three to six days a week – reaching more families to give them a chance to live healthier lives.

Paul Loman, Director at The Real Junk Food Brighton, said: “Thanks to National Lottery players, we have seen the Fitzherbert Community Hub become a vital part of the Kemptown community. The mix of people eating side-by-side is one of the great strengths of this project. The café is full every day, bringing the community together over food - and surplus food at that.”

The project is one of many supporting people’s wellbeing in Brighton. In recent months The National Lottery Community Fund has supported two further Brighton-based groups to run nutrition and nature focused projects in the local community.

Over the next two years, Let a Thousand Flowers Bloom, which received over £17,000, will offer sessions for over 160 residents at its one-acre organic garden. Supporting people most impacted by the rising cost of living and experiencing mental health difficulties, the group will offer nature-based craft activities to improve mental wellbeing.

Meanwhile, a grant of £20,000 will help Cook Around the Community to run its monthly Cook and Eat Sessions until autumn 2026. The group brings together people from a range of backgrounds and experiences, to learn about the benefits of fresh produce and improve cookery skills in a safe and inclusive environment.

Helen Bushell, Senior Head of Regional Funding for London, the South East and East of England at The National Lottery Community Fund, said: “We’re proud to support amazing projects across Brighton, which strengthen society and help local communities to be environmentally sustainable and live healthier lives.

“Our latest Corporate Plan sets out our commitment to invest more than 90% of our grants to support at least one our four community-led missions: to enable communities to come together, be environmentally sustainable, live healthier lives and to support children and young people to thrive.

“Over the next three years, we will dedicate more than half of our grants to communities experiencing the greatest poverty and disadvantage.”

These projects aren’t alone in benefitting from National Lottery funding in the South East of England. Today it was announced almost £25 million of National Lottery funding has been distributed to 428 projects across the South East in the past four months.*

National Lottery players raise over £30 million a week for good causes across the UK. Thanks to them, last year The National Lottery Community Fund was able to distribute over half a billion pounds (£615.4 million) of life-changing funding to communities.

To find out more visit www.TNLCommunityFund.org.uk

Date published: 16 July, 2024
Region: England (South East)

Notes to Editors

* These figures are for funding awarded from 25^th February 2024 – 28^th June 2024.

About The National Lottery Community Fund

We are the largest non-statutory community funder in the UK – community is at the heart of our purpose, vision and name.

We support activities that create resilient communities that are more inclusive and environmentally sustainable and that will strengthen society and improve lives across the UK.

We’re proud to award money raised by National Lottery players to communities across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, and to work closely with government to distribute vital grants and funding from key government programmes and initiatives.

As well as responding to what communities tell us is important to them, our funding is focused on four key missions, supporting communities to:

1. Come together
2. Be environmentally sustainable
3. Help children and young people thrive
4. Enable people to live healthier lives.

Thanks to the support of National Lottery players, we distribute around £500 million a year through 10,000+ grants and plan to invest over £4 billion of funding into communities by 2030. We’re privileged to be able to work with the smallest of local groups right up to UK-wide charities, enabling people and communities to bring their ambitions to life.

National Lottery players raise over £30 million each week for good causes throughout the UK. Since The National Lottery began in 1994, £47 billion has been raised and more than 670,000 individual grants have been made across the UK - the equivalent of around 240 National Lottery grants in every UK postcode district.

Website │Twitter │Facebook │Instagram