About Us

The Worthing Food Foundation was borne out of the experience of the local Covid-19 mutual aid groups. We began supplying food to people in need at the beginning of April 2020. The mutual aid groups had discovered that a lot of people simply had no access to the food they needed. The failure of the school meals voucher system and the eight-week wait for Universal Credit, at that time, had plunged a lot of people into crisis. Added to that the large number of people being put on furlough or made redundant, and the situation was desperate for many. After speaking with many people, from those in need to other food banks and referral agencies, it was decided to set up a non-referral food operation that would provide weekly supplies of three-four days’ worth of dry, tinned and fresh food, as well as other essentials to people in need.

People can self-refer but other agencies such as the Council, the CAB, schools etc., can and do refer people to us. The only requirement to receive food is that you are hungry. This has become the model that we continued with even as things have become more normalised. We believe that our approach removes a lot of the stigma that surrounds foodbank use. It also maintains dignity and, in the long run, allows us to build relationships that can then be used to steer people towards other help that they may require. We have developed a pathway that, in partnership with other agencies, helps people break their reliance on food projects such as ours. We aim to create a (food) safe and secure space where people have the time to seek and implement changes. In the future we hope to also offer a community food club, where people can contribute to the costs of the food they receive.

The local East Worthing Baptist church kindly allows us to use their premises and continues to offer us their support, which we are very grateful for. We receive donations from members of the public and local organisations, and subscribe to Fareshare, which distributes excess food from supermarkets and producers. However, we have to purchase over 80% of the food and essential supplies we provide to those in need, which means that we continue to need financial support from local businesses and those in a position to donate. We collaborate with many organisations and charities across Worthing and are a founding member of the Adur & Worthing Food Partnership (awfp.org.uk). As well as local families who are struggling to makes ends meet, we also support refugees, those with no recourse to public funds, people on probation and families and individuals with mental or physical health challenges which mean that they need additional support.

In 2022 we agreed to take on the operations of the Worthing Vegan Foodbank, which supplies vegan, gluten-free and other allergy-friendly food supplies. You can contact the Vegan Foodbank by calling or texting our main help number 07526176272 or by emailing support@worthingveganfoodbank.co.uk.

We currently have over 100 volunteers working with us, as well as one paid member of staff, our Outreach Officer, who liaises with our families to ensure that they are receiving the help that they need to get back on their feet. We are lucky to be supported by our parent charity  Les Alden Foundation (Charity No. 1190114)

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