TIME WELL SPENT WITH SUSSEX SURPLUS
We were recently invited to help out in a community kitchen in Brighton run by Sussex Surplus, an arm of Feedback Global, that takes fresh and surplus food in danger of being wasted and transforms it into long-life products and tasty meals for distribution. It is one of the great things about our line of work, being able to see first-hand what fantastic work so, so many organisations are doing to serve those in their local communities who for all sorts of reasons need their support.
Sussex Surplus’ home is the Bristol Estate Community Hub, Brighton where they run a number of initiatives. On Tuesdays they serve refreshments during the estate residents association drop-in session and on Thursdays they cook and host a delicious community lunch made from donated and rescued food. In addition they have a community fridge and stocks of ambient goods that are available for their guests to take home for free although donations are always welcome.
Our day with them was to help prepare and serve Thursday’s lunch not only for local residents but for those unable to attend as well as packed meals for distribution via a neighbouring residents association on the Phoenix Estate. Under the expert and friendly supervision of Ingrid, the head chef, we were soon peeling and grating a billion (ok a slight exaggeration) rescued carrots that were part of what was to be a fabulous spicy coleslaw. All around the other volunteers were beavering away on various tasks, prepping food, washing up, making puddings etc and it is actually a nice surprise at the end when you have no idea what will be put on the plate for the final meal. The guests started to arrive and it was obvious that one of the additional benefits of the lunch offering was that it was a chance for communication amongst the local residents which otherwise they might not have.
The few hours flew by and before we knew it food was ready and orders were taken from the assembled guests. A fabulous three course meal was on offer of pumpkin soup, a wonderful Korean stir fry, satay noodles, tempura vegetables and an OUTSTANDING coleslaw ! followed by apple crumble and custard (gluten free available too). The comments that came back from the satisfied guests were testament to the skills of Ingrid and the team.
Sussex Surplus are very keen on socially inclusive employment and offer entry-level opportunities paid at the Real Living Wage to young people who are neurodiverse. The statistics show that just 3 in 10 people of working age with autism are economically active, that’s a huge number of people who could be taking on meaningful work in a way that boasts their own sense of self, benefits the wider economy and in many cases helps society too.
Their expertise is also used to help generate much needed funding too with foraging walks, event catering and a One Pot Supper Club amongst the corporate offerings available. As if this wasn’t enough they even make their own delicious vegetable long-life soup that is sold in local independent stores which helps to generate some income as well as saving even more potential waste food.
Gleaning is also a big deal for the team here and they have built up some fabulous relationships with local producers (half the battle in getting these projects up and running) and do a number of very fruitful (sorry) gleaning days throughout the year.
We had a very rewarding time on out visit and once you start scratching the surface you see just how much these wonderful organisations are doing beyond what your first opinions might be. One thing that did really stand out from our trip was the obvious collaboration and pooling of ideas and resources between various charities in the Brighton area. That was really encouraging, and to be honest quite unusual, to see as often people, understandably, tend to hold on tight to their charitable enterprises.
To find out more about Sussex Surplus and that great work they are doing : Sussex Surplus
