Students sorting the food donationsStudents sorting the food donations
Students sorting the food donations

Students from Bognor and Felpham host food drive: “What wonderful, generous children we have in our community”

Students from ten schools in Bognor Regis and Felpham have held a community food drive, collecting donations weighing a total of 3,200kg for people in need.

The young people were inspired to take part after learning about local food rescue charity UKHarvest, which rescues surplus food and redistributes it to over 100 charities and organisations. The food donations from each of the schools were weighed and sorted by student volunteers, who gathered at The Regis School on Friday, November 22. The food was then loaded onto UKHarvest vans and delivered into the community. Among the students taking part was Megan Bryant-Lawson. She said of the event: “It was a great experience as we were able to watch the journey of our donations and see the change we are making.” Another student, Edward Clark, said: “We decided to help UK Harvest this year because we thought that the charity deserved support as they distribute over 6,000 meals per week. “It is so important because much of the food given by UK Harvest is reclaimed from a variety of sources and would have otherwise been thrown away, yet the people receiving their help are getting good, nutritious food.” Jessica Patterson, who was also involved, said: “It was incredibly fun and I really enjoyed being able to help other people and know that I was putting good out into the world.”

The Regis School has held a food drive every November for the last five years. Caroline Saunders, assistant principal at the school, said: “We wanted 2019 to be our biggest food drive yet so our student ambassadors had the idea of contacting the local schools to see who else would like to take part. “The response has been amazing with over 6000 local children and ten schools having the opportunity to make donations. “As a Rights Respecting School, we take the right to nutritious food really seriously and it is wonderful to see so many young people supporting this important cause.” Each week, UKHarvest delivers free food to all the charities it supports, reaching more than 6,000 people who cannot access enough food. It helps a large variety of different organisations, ranging from schools to homeless shelters, refuges, foodbanks and more. The donated food will allow UKHarvest to provide much needed extra support for those in need, especially in the lead up to Christmas. Stacey Cullen, director of operations and programmes at UKHarvest, thanked the schools for their support. “Every single item of food that has been donated by the children and their families will be redistributed by UKHarvest to people who are food insecure,” she said. “What wonderful, generous children we have in our community. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts. You really will make a difference.” The schools which took part in the food drive were: The Regis School, Felpham Community College, Downview Rose Green Infants, Rose Green Juniors, Southway Nyewood Juniors, Nyewood Infants, Bishop Tuffnell and South Bersted CE Primary School.

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