Bristol Estate Emergency Food Hub recently launched a Just Giving appeal. We're hugely grateful to the many people who donated to it. Within four days we'd hit our target and donations continue to come in...thank you!
Our Emergency Hub launched the first week of lockdown which was announced 23rd March 2020. Volunteers and BELTA Trustees quickly realised that the community was just not equipped to cope with the new measures announced.
East Brighton faces unique challenges but has a strong community spirit and that has really come to the fore during this ongoing crisis. Everyone banded together to help. We might be isolating but we are not alone.
Reading the East Brighton Neighbourhood Plan provides some insight into issues that the community faces
We're having to adapt and develop everyday
Our Community Cafe had been temporarily closed as we reorganised the community association and sought to make some refurbishments. Connecting with East Brighton Food Coop (Bryan & Janet) to assist with food supplies, quickly mobilising support - we reopened. Huge thanks to our resident volunteers Louisa, Aine, Clare and Stevie who spent a day doing the initial clean to allow us to move back in. Subsequently clear outs of our storage room and regular deep cleans organised by the Trustee team ensure the kitchen and delivery space is kept scrupulously clean. The community kitchen provides space to cater up to cooked 50 meals a day, within days we were catering for 30 and we're now up to our maximum number extending to distribution of daily food parcels too. From the very first day it was a hectic rush to recruit volunteers, organise a virtual office space so that the restricted physical space could be effectively used for food prep, cooking and assembling delivery packages, Acorn provided us with two incredible sibling volunteers (Dom & Beth) who have overseen the virtual supporting of the volunteer team. We'll be doing separate blogs about each team as each deserves a shout out and our thanks as a community they're all amazing people. The kitchen team led by Anna our lead Chef is brilliant, they're resourceful, conscientious and great cooks.
The JustGiving page provides a place for recipients to contribute if they can and for others who might be in a position to help to offer financial support (and also volunteer). We've desperately needed an additional freezer, hotplates, replenishing cleaning and protective equipment and purchasing more thermal bags for deliveries. To all those who've helped we extend heartfelt thanks on behalf of Bristol estate residents.