Donate-a-Drink for food bank users

Aim: To give envelopes of Lewes pounds to food bank users to give them more agency over their lives

We run the Lewes Pound, a complementary local currency. It is more than just money, though, and we aim to celebrate Lewes, support local businesses, draw attention to the climate crisis and help with social inclusion. We wanted food bank users in Lewes to have access to the Lewes Pound so they can enjoy the same kind of small treats - whether it a cup of coffee out, a trip to the cinema or to buy butchers sausages. In other words we wanted to give them more agency over their own lives rather than just relying on the basics supplied by the food banks. We came up with the idea of Donate-a-Drink, whereby customers at local businesses (originally one but nowise) could add £3  - the price a coffee - onto their total bill. In due course the business would pass the donations onto the Lewes Pound and we would turn used them to fund envelopes of Lewes Pounds to be given to food bank users beforeChristmas and hopefully at other times too. This had been working incredibly well and we received some amazing , heartwarming feedback from recipients - one was able to get a treasured bracelet repaired by a local jeweller and another, for the first ever, was able to go to a local bookshop to buy ~Christmas gifts for her grandchildren. However, times has changed and it is now proving harder to generate donations. That's why we are now trying to raise funds ore widely. Please help us - we already know just how much these envelopes Lewes Poundsare appreciated by our local food bank users.