Successful Rustington Village Christmas Mega Raffle funds Christmas hampers for families in crisis – as well as meal hampers for January

Rustington Village Christmas Mega Raffle was launched by Sarah Gray, owner of The Butcher and Deli, to support St Peter and St Paul's Pantry and provide food hampers for local families in crisis this Christmas.

Sophie Guess, owner of family-run jewellers L.Guess, then agreed to match Sarah's donation, other Rustington businesses came forward with prizes for the raffle and Store Property, which owns Rustington Shopping Centre also agreed to make a donation.

The draw took place at The Butcher and Deli, in The Street, today, Monday, December 12, with Rustington Parish Council chairman Mrs Alison Cooper picking the winning tickets out in front of volunteers and supporters of the Pantry.

Mrs Cooper said: "This has been a fantastic community effort and I would like to thank the businesses for what they have done. This support for families is really needed here in Rustington."

The raffle raised £1,600 towards Christmas hampers, with a further £800 raised by the church. Pantry volunteer Grace Sims said: "The money is going to help us fund food parcels through January, not only the Christmas hampers. All our regular families will benefit.

"Sarah has set up a truly wonderful initiative to help more families this Christmas. She arranged a raffle, running through November and December with tickets costing £2 a strip. The money raised will be used to make up Christmas hampers for some of the families and individuals who use our Pantry. We have a list of 18 families who are going to receive hampers so far, which will include a turkey or meat joint for Christmas Day.

"Sarah asked most of the independent retailers in Rustington to offer prizes for the raffles and my goodness have they come up trumps! The prizes were absolutely top notch."

Sarah has been donating meat, sausages and other fresh foods to the Pantry since lockdown and last Christmas, she donated turkeys to several local families it supports.

She said the many thank you messages brought tears to her eyes and this year, she wanted to expand the support. She said: "It really does make a difference and that is why we want to do it. It will become a thing we do every year."

Charlie Sims, who manages the Pantry, said there are around 75 families who are regularly helped by the project, 40 to 50 at the church and a further 20 to 25 at Georgian Gardens Primary School, where the pantry is open on Thursdays in term time.

He added: "Last year, we just did Christmas hampers but this will now mean we can help people through January, because that is a very difficult month. This is what Sarah really wanted to do."

The plan is to provide food hampers for family meals in January. The Pantry will aim to spread the support to as many people as possible.