EBFC - Citywide Community Meals on Wheels Service

What do we do?

East Brighton Food Co-operative supply a fresh, nutritious daily meals on wheels service, maintaining social contact & welfare checks for our neighbours across the city of Brighton and Hove.

75% of our recipients are using our service due to disability or ill health; this provision is an essential lifeline.

EBFC began preparing, cooking and delivering our fresh, nutritious meals on wheels in March 2020 in response to the Covid-19 lockdown. We knew that our most vulnerable neighbours would need a nutritious meal & contact to combat social isolation.

Since this time, we have cooked & delivered over 220,000 meals and 1000's of food parcels. In addition, more than 450 tonnes of surplus food has been saved and redistributed across the city to various projects, food groups & schools.

We are now working in partnership with our Local NHS East & Central Brighton PCN, addressing health inequalities with great meals & social prescribing. We need your help to build upon the foundations already in place.

Our pioneering work has been recognised nationally through multiple awards, with the most recent being listed in the 2022 Top 100 Social Enterprises in the UK. It's been a busy 3 years.

This has only been possible due to the brilliant support of our local council, community, local businesses, funders, individuals & most importantly the incredible volunteer team's dedication to ensuring that our vulnerable neighbours are provided with fresh & nutritious daily meals in a sustainable manner.

Why do we need your support?

EBFC's meals on wheels service has been utilising community centres across East Brighton for the last 3 years, but we now need our own kitchen and industrial catering equipment to keep up with demand & keep the service going.

A daily, nutritious meal is essential for health and wellbeing, yet pre-covid there were an estimated 4,000+ over 65 year olds in Brighton & Hove suffering from malnutrition. These figures are rising as a result of the cost of living crisis & austerity and the number of individuals in need of our support is increasing. We want to be able to continue assisting people, who cannot cook for themselves for various reasons, with accessing quality, fresh and nutritious daily meals.

An astonishing 87.5% of our current recipients have informed us that without EBFC's daily meal service, their health would have deteriorated significantly. This emphasises the necessity of keeping our provision going; we must look after our most vulnerable neighbours. Have a look on our website to see our 2020-2022 impact report. We will be publishing our 2023 impact report here in the next 2 weeks.

EBFC are in critical need of funds. Donations will help us to pay for key supplies at our Baker Street kitchen. We urgently need funding to pay for commercial fridges and freezers, a commercial blast chiller, meal packaging, rent & utilities, building repairs, transportation, staff & volunteer costs.

To help us continue addressing hunger, malnutrition and social isolation across Brighton & Hove, please share this campaign widely, and donate if you can.

How do I know how much to donate?

Every donation up to £250 will be matched £1 for £1 via support from the Aviva Community Fund. For example, £200 donations will become £400 donations... £10 will become £20.

Here is a guide to indicate what £££ can enable:

• £4 (£8)= 2 fresh, nutritious meals and desserts for 1 person
• £25 (£50) = over 2 week's worth of daily, fresh, nutritious meals and desserts for 1 person
• £50 (£100)= over 1 month's worth of daily, fresh, nutritious meals and desserts for 1 person
• £100 (£200) = over 2 month's worth of daily, fresh, nutritious meals and desserts for 1 person
• £250 (£500) = over 5 months worth of daily, fresh, nutritious meals and desserts for 1 person
• £950 (£1200) = over a year's worth of daily, fresh, nutritious meals and desserts for 1 person

... Please note, whatever you can afford to give will help us to reach our target and support us in enabling food and friendship across the communities of Brighton & Hove.

How can I further my support?

Any support you can provide is greatly appreciated. 

EBFC are continuously looking for volunteers to help assist us with running our meal service, in addition to the many activities and community events we facilitate. If you are interested, contact [email protected] or check out our website for more details.

Please sign our petition for the Government to fund Meals on Wheels provision and make it a statutory service. 2/3 of Meals on Wheels services have disappeared in the last 5 years due to austerity and cuts. 

This meals on wheels service is plugging a worrying gap within social care provision.

(Quoted from a social worker - see EBFC data report)

https://www.change.org/p/government-funding-for-meals-on-wheels-now

"It's more than a lifesaver and balanced diet. It helps all of us live well".

 Meal service feedback from one of the many people we support.