Target reached!
The more we raise, the more people we are able to help. We will also be able to fun...
Eat and Heat Winter 2022
Brighton, Brighton and Hove, United Kingdom
Cost of Living Boost
Donations to our project will be matched by the Cost of Living Boost up to the value of £250 to help us tackle the cost of living crisis.
Please note only one donation per supporter will be matched by the Cost of Living Boost. View the Terms & Conditions.
Aim
To continue to provide healthy and nutritious meals in a warm space to everyone in our community irrespective of their ability to pay
Who are we? What do we do?
The Real Junk Food Project intercepts food that would otherwise go to waste and uses it instead to make healthy and nutritious meals which we serve in four cafes across Brighton:
- The Gardener cafe in the city centre
- St Luke's Prestonville
- Hollingdean Community Centre
- the newly opened Fitzherbert Community Hub in Kemptown
The food is offered on a pay-as-you-feel basis which means that it is available to all regardless of their ability to pay.
This winter we are faced with an additional challenge: increases in food and energy costs which mean that many people will struggle to keep warm and feed themselves.
Our cafes will be warm places which will offer sanctuary to those who will struggle to keep the heating on.
What do people say?
The Real Junk Food Project currently feeds over 750 people a week ... and this number is increasing all the time. Listen to what our guests say:
Why are we crowdfunding?
In all of our cafes we invite people who are able to pay a bit extra to pay for their own meals and donate a bit extra to feed someone else. We call that 'paying forward' and it appeals to the generosity of our customers.
However, donations and pay forward contributions are not enough. The number of people we are feeding is increasing and the income we receive is reducing. In short, we're struggling to pay the bills.
We calculate that it costs about £5 to create a meal taking into account our own utility costs, rents, transportation costs, and salaries of key personnel. And this doesn't account for the army of brilliant volunteers who donate their time to the project week in and week out: driving, sorting food, peeling, chopping, cooking, serving, and cleaning.
We're asking you 'the crowd' to pay forward in this fundraiser to make a contribution so those in our community can avail themselves of a warm space and a hot meal and drink.
Every £ gets doubled!
Every individual contribution (up to £250) to this crowdfunder is still matched by Cost of Living Boost & Co-op Warm Spaces. Just think: you give £10 and we get £20. What's not to like about that? Note: it's limited to one contribution per person so please contribute as much as you can in one hit!
And if you're one of those lucky people who doesn't need the government's energy rebate, why not donate the rebate.
Our Aim
We are hoping to raise £15,000 in total - some which will come from the amazing Aviva and Co-op co-funding . This will mean we will be able to create 3,000 meals for people in need.
We've got some rewards, too
T-shirt (modelled by our volunteer, Linda) Barista coffee training
Discovering the joys and health benefits from pickling and fermenting with the amazing Daphne Lambert from Greencuisine Trust. Or get your own copy of David Shrigley's 'Really Good' sculpture.
What about one of these wines kindly donated by Butlers Wine Cellar
Aviva Cost of Living Boost has provided £5,717 of match funding
Co-op Warm Spaces Funding Boost has provided £3,333 of match funding
Aviva Community Fund has provided £360 of match funding
This project successfully funded on 25th February 2023