Young volunteers give food for thought

A new food hub in Hove - helped by a group of young volunteers - has delivered hundreds of meals to people in need during lockdown.

 

The hub, at St Richard’s Community Centre, is being run by the Hangleton & Knoll Project.

 

Central to the project are their amazing team of volunteers. These include six drivers and a team of seven packers who put together the bags twice a week. 

 

Among them are a group of young people – Jess, Jamie, Robbie, Arwen, Connor and Aaron – who have volunteered to support their community and help make the deliveries happen.

 

Jamie, age 15, said “I’ve really enjoyed it a lot. It felt good to be useful. I like helping people wherever I can and it was a good experience because I’ve never done anything like this before.”

 

Aaron, aged 21, said “I’ve helped to put eggs into boxes and extra goodies into the bags. It was great to be working with my community to help others.”

 

The chief executive of the Hangleton & Knoll Project, Jo Martindale, said: “We are so proud of the young people in our area who get involved and contribute so much to our community.

 

“Our experience is that if you offer young people a way to help and support them to get involved they really respond positively. 

 

“Our fundraising has meant we can also offer people other urgent things like nappies, toiletries and sanitary products.”

 

The project works closely with the council and the city’s Food Partnership. So far it has managed more than 550 deliveries.

 

It has also worked with partners in Ageing Well to provide activity packs for the over 50s, and with Fabrica to provide creative family activity packs.