Chichester food delivery service gets £8k boost from Coronavirus Community Support Fund

Every Friday, volunteers leave Tuppenny Barn, an organic smallholding and education centre in Southbourne, to distribute boxes of cooked meals, fresh produce and other staple items to families in the community who are most in need.

The service started in April with financial support from the Sussex Community Fund, Southern Co-op, Waitrose at Chichester and individual donations.

The charity is now supporting 20 families, feeding 80 individuals, and needed more funds to be able to continue the free service.

Maggie Haynes, founder and chief executive of Tuppenny Barn, said: “This £8,100 grant is wonderful news for us and the local families we are supporting at this time.

“The funding from the Coronavirus Community Support Fund, distributed by The National Lottery Community Fund, will ensure we can continue our Hardship Food Fund deliveries throughout the summer.

“We would like to thank the government for making this possible.”

The charity has also received donations towards the Hardship Food Fund from Southbourne Parish Council, Westbourne Parish Council and Chichester District Council, as well as a grant from the Charities Aid Foundation.

Tuppenny Barn has continued to operate its site shop every Thursday for the sale of organic fruit and vegetables, herbs, plants and flowers, and its weekly social and therapeutic horticultural therapy sessions restarted on Friday.

Called Nurture in Nature, the project uses gardening activities to improve the mental health and wellbeing of people living with low to moderate mental health conditions.

Maggie said: “We are also hoping to restart our schools’ visit programme in time for the autumn term.

“We really value the relationships we have built with our schools and are looking forward to them returning with all the appropriate safety measures in place to learn about the benefits of growing and eating healthy, nutritious food.”

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