More than 260 Christmas food hampers delivered to families in Burgess Hill

The hampers were then delivered to families and individuals in Burgess Hill and the surrounding areas at the beginning of December.

In total more than 445 adults and teens and 265 children benefitted from the project.

A Burgess Hill Town Council spokesperson said: “Many people on low incomes are struggling with the rising cost of living and Christmas can be a particularly difficult time with extra expense but no extra money, particularly during the Covid pandemic.”

The groups that organised the initiative included: Burgess Hill District Lions Club, The King’s Church Mid Sussex, Burgess Hill Community Food Bank, Burgess Hill Town Council and Burgess Hill Youth.

Sussex Clubs for Young People also provided support with their Purple Bus and assisted with the transportation of food.

Burgess Hill District Lions, Clarion Futures and The Kings Church helped support the project financially.

The initiative was also able to make a financial contribution to Burgess Hill Community Food Bank, which is still open for donations now.

To donate visit www.goldengiving.com.

Burgess Hill Academy, Downlands School, LVS Hassocks, St Paul’s Catholic College and Burgess Hill Girls School all contributed a significant amount of food to the project.

In addition to this Rapid Relief Team UK donated 20 completed boxes for distribution, providing them for last minute requests.

A Town Council spokesperson said that local businesses ‘rose to the challenge’ too and collected items from their employees.

“This was particularly challenging when so many are home-based at the moment,” they said.

“We accepted donations from Steve Willis Training, Paperplus, Bennet Oakley Solicitors, Acora, First Central Insurance and Handelsbanken.”

The Town Council also thanked Bio Productions for providing empty cardboard boxes in advance for the schools to collect their items in.

They also thanked the community team at Tesco who sorted and allocated food at short notice to fill hampers with any missing items.

The missing items were purchased by Burgess Hill District Lions and Clarion Futures.

Volunteers from Cambridge Audio, Oliver Wyman and Canon supported the packing alongside community volunteers, councillors and a team from Downlands School in Hassocks.

The Project Team said it is grateful to everyone who helped support those in need in the community this winter.

The project is now set to operate in 2022.

Visit www.burgesshill.gov.uk to find out more.