Struggling to make ends meet? The Community Chest at The Chapel is there to help anyone who needs it. We are so grateful to receive food donations from Sainsbury’s that allow us to stock the shelves and fridge with perishables such as bread and vegetables every Friday evening and Saturday afternoon. This food is always accessible and we hope that it will help anyone in our community who may need it.
Our Community Chest was originally called “Priceless at the Pavilion” and was then moved to The Chapel on Graylingwell Drive (PO19 6BZ) last summer. The aim of our project is to reduce food waste, while also supporting our community during the current cost of living crisis. We stock the shelves with food that would otherwise go off and be thrown away. Therefore, by using food that would otherwise not be eaten and giving it back to those struggling in our community, whether it be families, pensioners or your average Joe, we continue to achieve our aims. It is a long term project that we hope will only continue to grow in the future. Ideas such as possible cookery workshops and community meals are talked about currently, and we are thrilled to see where that may lead us.
Sarah from CCDT said “It has been such a privilege to watch the Community Chest grow in 2023. We rescued and redistributed almost 2 tonnes of food to the local community and are excited to do more in 2024.”
If you are able to help, there are two ways one can do this. We welcome donations from anyone able to leave spare food at the Community Chest to help us feed our community. Alternatively, we would be so grateful to anyone who might be able to volunteer some of their time to help us keep the Community Chest going and support the CCDT. Volunteers able to collect and log surplus food would be amazing, so the use of a car would be helpful. This project is very beneficial towards our community, and so we could really use some help to make sure it continues to have the best impact it can. Email sarah@chichestercdt.org.uk for more information about either the Community Chest or volunteering for us!
