Social impact report finds UKHarvest are reducing food waste and improving lives in West Sussex
79.6% of families that attend the UKHarvest’s Community Food Hubs reported that they have recognised a positive improvement to the amount of fresh fruit and vegetables they eat, with 85.2% reporting a significant decrease in the amount of food wasted in the home. This is thanks to the redistributed food and educational support received through the charity.
One Community Food Hub user shared that ‘I feel loved by getting amazing food that I could not normally afford.’ UKHarvest reduces national food waste through their food rescue operations directly from commercially grown and produced surplus food but also helps support and educate the community about making the most of the food they have at home through reducing their own food waste and ultimately, saving money.
As the cost-of-living crisis continues across the UK, but an estimated 9.5M tonnes of food thrown away in 2024, UKHarvest's food rescue and redistribution operations have never been more important. The charity operates 16 Community Food Hubs across West Sussex, 7 of which are funded by West Sussex County Council’s Waste Prevention Team.
The Community Food Hub report focuses on the WSCC County Council’s funded food hubs. UKHarvest has conducted an extensive research project to bring to life the positive impacts Community Food Hubs are having on West Sussex communities.
Through the ‘Nourishing West Sussex’ report, positive social, health and wellbeing impacts have been highlighted, with incredible results. ‘It has been astounding to see how supportive our Community Food Hubs are to the lives of those we serve. As our lead front facing operation, we hope that our food hubs bring much needed relief to households across the County, but through this report, we can see clearly how the food hubs are allowing families to access more fresh and healthy food, creating safe spaces for communities to share, and enabling access points for more of the local services on offer in West Sussex.
We are all overjoyed to read the findings on the reduction of food waste from the rescued food we redistribute, and directly from homes with over 85% of customers sharing that our Community Food Hubs had helped them to reduce food waste. We are only able to reach so many people thanks to the support we receive from WSCC.
We are truly grateful.’ Yvonne Thomson, CEO, UKHarvest. Wellbeing is a huge part of UKHarvest’s objectives. Through their research the report shows that 71.8% of hub customers felt that their wellbeing had been improved by using the hub’s services. UKHarvest strives to make sure that the hubs not only provide access to affordable food but also create somewhere that customers can come together and share their time and meet new people. One hub user described their Community Food Hub as ‘A great way to support the local community and bring people together.’
If you would like to be involved with UKHarvest, and help support those in need without our community, you can donate via our website https://www.ukharvest.org.uk/support-donate. Please contact our volunteer coordinator to find out more about the exciting volunteer opportunities we currently have available via https://www.ukharvest.org.uk/volunteer.
Deborah Urquhart, West Sussex County Council Cabinet Member for Environment and Climate Change, said “Food waste makes up a staggering 40 per cent of the average household general waste bin in West Sussex. An important element of Our Council Plan is to reduce the amount of waste we have to process, so tackling food waste and helping people find ways to reduce the amount of edible food which ends up in the bin is critical.
"Food waste has an environmental impact as when you throw food away you are not only wasting the product but also the resources that went into creating it. At a time when many people are facing significant cost-of-living pressures we are delighted to support this valuable service, which has been highly successful in encouraging residents to 'rescue' surplus food from suppliers for a voluntary donation."
If you, or anyone you know would benefit from using the Community Food Hubs, please find out more on UKHarvest’s website, where the report is also available to download https://www.ukharvest.org.uk/events-and-news/news/nourishing-west-sussex-wscc-community-food-hub-report.