The Very Local Food Hubs Team

We are a group of volunteers who live and work in Moulsecoomb and Bevendean in Brighton. We came together in response to the Covid pandemic, to pool our skills and support people in our area in accessing fresh and affordable food. We knew that food poverty was already an issue in the area, and that Covid-19 was making things worse.

We created a community veg box scheme that saw people through 3 lockdowns and beyond. We supplied a weekly box for a full year, using a scaled pricing system so that people could pay what they could afford.

Due to fantastic community support, as a grassroots project, we have continued to grow; to train and upskill volunteers; to begin creating paid roles; and to expand to include longer-term goals around local food empowerment.

We started with a committee of 6; we now have more than 30 volunteers contributing regularly to our project, with more joining each month.

We support people by giving them access to food at affordable prices, training, resources and opportunities to connect and learn from each other. 

Since Spring 2021, in response to community feedback, we've been helping people learn to grow their own food and sharing skills and experience around cooking from fresh. We've hosted ‘Conversations & Tasters’ events and 'Grow Your Own' sessions from different community hubs, to reach people who might not otherwise get these opportunities.

Local residents tell us that we help them to feel better connected to their community. 

We collaborate with other services to make sure people get the help that they need, and give people opportunities to help their neighbours by sharing their time, skills or resources.

We pride ourselves in using a large proportion of local, seasonal produce for our veg boxes from farms in Sussex and Kent, who receive a fair price; we believe that paying a fair price and supporting local, means greater food security for our community.

 Using the knowledge of our local chefs, we plan veg boxes to make up as many meals as possible. Our superstar volunteer teams pack the boxes - we have Pete the Machine, Speedy Sarah and Awesome Alex to name a few; and our smiley driving team deliver them across the area, getting the fruit and veg to those who need it.