FareShare Sussex & Surrey launches Summer Appeal to fight holiday hunger

With demand for food support surging during the school summer holidays, FareShare Sussex & Surrey has launched an urgent appeal calling on the public to help tackle holiday hunger across the region.

The food redistribution charity is asking supporters to donate to its Summer Appeal 2025, which aims to raise vital funds to get more food to children and families who would otherwise go without while free school meals are unavailable.

The appeal comes as the charity’s latest Impact Report reveals it now supports 28,525 people every week through a network of 248 charities and community groups, many of whom are bracing for a spike in demand this summer. According to the Food Foundation, one in five children risk missing meals during the summer holidays.[1]

Dan Slatter, chief executive at FareShare Sussex & Surrey, said: "Summer should be a time of joy and rest for children, but for too many families, it’s a time of stress and empty cupboards. Food insecurity is worsening across Sussex and Surrey – and the need for our support is greater than ever.

"Every pound donated to our Summer Appeal helps us keep our warehouses open, our vans on the road and nutritious food flowing to school holiday clubs, community fridges, shelters and support centres."

The charity, which rescues good-to-eat surplus food from across the food industry and redistributes it to those in need, provided 6.26 million meals last year, saving local organisations £16.5 million in food costs.

A teacher and victim of domestic abuse credits his local Community Fridge in Knaphill, Surrey, which receives weekly food deliveries from FareShare Sussex & Surrey, with getting him through the hardest period of his life.

He said: "So, the Community Fridge has kept me alive through this. I’m here for food to survive – and treats for my son. This place is non-judgemental, well stocked, and great. It’s the times where life turns bad that you need these places."

At St John’s Community Support in Sussex – another charity which receives weekly food deliveries from FareShare Sussex & Surrey – referrals for summer food parcels now regularly top 100 families per drop. With FareShare Sussex & Surrey’s help, they’ve extended the programme through to 2027.

FareShare Sussex & Surrey says just 25p covers the cost of delivering a meal, making every donation count.

To support the Summer Appeal, please visit: https://faresharesussexandsurrey.org.uk/support-us/summer/

[1] Source: The Food Foundation: food insecurity tracker: foodfoundation.org.uk/initiatives/food-insecurity-tracking

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Editors notes

FareShare Sussex & Surrey rescues surplus food from businesses, supermarkets and farms. This food is nutritious, in-date, and safe and includes a high proportion of fresh vegetables, fruit, meat and fish. If the charity did not rescue this food, it would be at risk of going to waste. Instead, they deliver it to charities, schools, food banks, community pantries and fridges and other organisations serving vulnerable people.

In 2022, the charity delivered food for 2.5 million meals supporting 17,370 people a week at risk of food poverty. Food poverty is a huge and growing problem, and 13.4 million people including 4 million children in the UK live in households that struggle to afford to buy enough fruit, vegetables, fish and other healthy foods.