As the cost-of-living crisis continues across the UK, an estimated 9.5M tonnes of food was thrown away in 2024, UKHarvest's food rescue and redistribution operations have never been more important. The charity operates 16 Community Food Hubs across West Sussex, 7 of which are funded by West Sussex County Council’s Waste Prevention Team. The Community Food Hub report focuses on the WSCC County Council’s funded food hubs.
‘Nourishing West Sussex’ is now available to read. A thorough report outlining the positive impact Community Food Hubs are having on our communities. The staggering statistics show that 79.6% of families that attend the UKHarvest’s Community Food Hubs have seen a positive improvement to the amount of fresh fruit and vegetables they eat, with 85.2% reporting a significant decrease in the amount of food wasted in the home.
The Community Food Hubs are only able to operate thanks to the generous support of organisations and West Sussex County Council’s Waste Prevention Team. The Community Food Hub operations enable UKHarvest to redistribute food and provide educational support around food waste. One Community Food Hub user shared that ‘I feel loved by getting amazing food that I could not normally afford.’
Wellbeing is a huge part of UKHarvest’s objectives. Through their research the report shows that 71.8% of hub customers felt that their wellbeing had been improved by using the hub’s services. UKHarvest strives to make sure that the hubs not only provide access to affordable food but also create somewhere that customers can come together and share their time and meet new people. One hub user described their Community Food Hub as ‘A great way to support the local community and bring people together.’
WSCC Community Food Hub Social Impact in numbers
A Message from our CEO,
Yvonne Thomson
‘It has been astounding to see how supportive our Community Food Hubs are to the lives of those we serve. As our lead front facing operation, we hope that our food hubs bring much needed relief to households across the County, but through this report, we can see clearly how the food hubs are allowing families to access more fresh and healthy food, creating safe spaces for communities to share, and enabling access points for more of the local services on offer in West Sussex.’
