County Council Surplus Food Goes To West Sussex Charities

Wednesday, 12 August 2020 23:50

By John Warburton @Warblefly

Food for re-distribution (Photo: West Sussex County Council)

Residents in need across the county are set to benefit from 14 pallets of food donated by West Sussex County Council.

With support from West Sussex Fire & Rescue Service's Technical Rescue Unit, 10 pallets of surplus food and supplies were donated to "UKHarvest" and four pallets were given to FareShare Sussex.

UKHarvest is a Chichester-based food education and rescue charity, while FareShare Sussex distributes food to other charities such as foodbanks.

According to West Sussex County Council, the items became surplus from the beginning of August, when the government advised that shielding restrictions were eased.

Duncan Crow, Cabinet Member for Fire and Rescue and Communities, said:

"During the pandemic, the Partnerships and Communities team have worked tirelessly to make sure that residents across West Sussex are looked after and supported.

"They have done this through the Community Hub, continuously building strong local connections to make sure help reaches the right people at the right time and by working alongside district and borough councils, local organisations and charities to make sure that every available resource we have at our disposal is used.

"This last point couldn't be better illustrated than with the surplus food that was left in our depot at Drayton.

Working alongside the Fire and Rescue Service's Technical Rescue Unit, the Communities team were able to deliver surplus goods to UKHarvest and organise for FareShare Sussex to come and collect the remaining items."

Rob Orme, Chief Executive Officer at FareShare Sussex, added:

"Thank you so much for the kind donations of sugar, biscuits, pasta and other staples.

"These are exactly the kind of things that people experiencing food poverty tell us that they need to supplement their income and their diets."

The Community Hub continues to operate between 8am-8pm, seven days per week either by phone on 0330 222 7980 or via www.westsussex.gov.uk/covid19communityhub.

For the foreseeable future, the council said, the hub will continue to provide a central point of coordination for information, advice and support for residents affected by coronavirus.