Community Christmas Food Hamper Project Delivers To 270 Homes In The Burgess Hill Area

The annual Burgess Hill community Christmas Hamper project has been completed with 270 hampers packed by volunteers at the Kings Church in just 2 days.



A partnership of local organisations with the support of local businesses, schools, and the Foodbank collected items to make up the Food Hampers which were then delivered to families and individuals in the Burgess Hill area in time for Christmas.

The groups organising the initiative include Burgess Hill District Lions Club, The King's Church Mid-Sussex, Burgess Hill Community Food Bank, Burgess Hill Town Council and Burgess Hill Youth. 

Sussex Clubs for Young People also provided support with their Purple Bus and assisted with the transportation of food. Financial support for the project was contributed by Burgess Hill District Lions, Clarion Futures and The Kings Church. 

A donation of boxed food hampers was received from the Rapid Relief Team UK.



The project had to adapt to Covid this year so there were reduced collection points available however, the community stepped up to support those in need. There was an opportunity to make a financial contribution to the Foodbank promoted locally which is still open for donations https://www.goldengiving.com/secure/donation/burgess-hill-community-food-bank. 
 
Burgess Hill Academy, Downlands School, LVS Hassocks, St Paul’s Catholic College and Burgess Hill Girls School all contributed a significant amount of food. The 1st Burgess Hill Scout Group also did a sterling effort in collating donations from the various sections and these were added into the hampers.  Rapid Relief Team UK approached the project team and donated 19 completed boxes for distribution too.
 
Local businesses rose to the challenge and collected items from employees.


 
The organisers would also like to thank the community team at Tesco who sorted and allocated food at short notice to fill the hampers with missing items. These items were purchased by Burgess Hill District Lions and Clarion Futures.
 
The Project Team were very grateful for all support for those in need the our community. In total, over 490 adults and teens and 273 children benefitted from the generous donations of people’s food, time and effort to support those in need. The project will operate in 2021 and information will be available on the Town Council website.