Volunteer-run food banks and meal delivery projects that provide food to vulnerable people are being supported with parking permits.
Councillors have issued 25 permits to the Emergency Food Network - a collaboration of food banks and other organisations providing food to those in need.
The Emergency Food Network was developed in 2013, when the Brighton & Hove Food Partnership brought together community food organisations from across the city to learn from one another and develop joint solutions.
Since then, the network has grown, and there are now more than 50 members operating out of more than 60 locations across the city, with around 6,400 people using their services each week.
Cabinet advisor and chair of the council’s new Poverty Reduction Steering Group, Councillor Mitchie Alexander said the permits would help to plug an urgent gap this year and allow volunteers to continue to deliver food across the city, providing a lifeline to many families.
Councillor Alexander said: "The funding situation this year has been extremely challenging, but we have seen incredible cooperative working and problem solving between members of the emergency food network, from surplus food to skill development.
“We are all well aware that this action alone will not solve the cost-of-living crisis or remove reasons behind food insecurity, but we will continue to work together to find solutions.”
The work of the Emergency Food Network is central to the council’s Cost of Living Action Plan, and a key route to becoming a fair and inclusive city.
Vic Borrill, director of the Brighton & Hove Food Partnership, said: “Thank you to the volunteers who collectively give hundreds of hours of their time each year to help ensure that no one in the city goes hungry.
“The food projects that have received a parking permit to help in their work delivering food to the homes of the most vulnerable really appreciate this support from Brighton & Hove City Council.”
