With rising food costs continuing to put pressure on families, FareShare Sussex & Surrey is calling on schools and pre-schools across Surrey to consider whether a school pantry could support parents and children in their community.

School pantries provide weekly access to fresh and ambient food in a non-judgemental way, at a time and place that fits naturally into parents’ busy routines, helping to ease some of the daily pressure parents face. Run from familiar school settings, they allow families to choose what they need, without referrals or stigma.

Nationally, food insecurity remains a serious concern. In 2024, 27 percent of children were growing up in food-insecure households, according to the Trussell Trust. Research from The Food Foundation shows that the risk of hunger increases in households with more than two children and in single-parent families. These figures highlight the importance of local, easy-to-access food support, so children do not have to worry about where their next meal will come from.

Every week, FareShare Sussex & Surrey rescues 55 tonnes of good-to-eat surplus food that would otherwise go to waste, enough to provide more than 120,000 meals. This food is redistributed to 248 charities and community groups across Sussex & Surrey, including a growing number of school pantries.

Schools are increasingly responding to the needs they see firsthand by setting up pantries and fridges, making support accessible to families where they already are. Pressures from the ongoing rise in food and energy prices have made this kind of support more urgent than ever.

One school working with FareShare Sussex & Surrey is Elm Grove Primary School in inner city Brighton. Concerned about families struggling to afford food, the PTA worked with the charity to set up a pantry in the school playground. Run by parents and driven by community need, the pantry operates on a “take what you need” basis, helping families access food with dignity.

Elm Grove School Pantry receives around 500kg of surplus fresh chilled and ambient food, delivered every Tuesday by FareShare Sussex & Surrey volunteers, providing a reliable supply for parents to collect any day of the week that suits them. The school has seen how this regular support helps ease some of the daily pressures families face.

During the winter, FareShare Sussex & Surrey experienced unusually high volumes of surplus root vegetables. Working with the Elm Grove PTA, two Pop-Up Veg Fairs were held in December and January, making 850kg of fresh vegetables including potatoes, parsnips, carrots, cabbages and tomatoes available to parents and children directly in the playground.

One parent described the experience simply: “It feels like someone cares about you.” Others shared that access to good-quality fresh food made a real difference to the meals they could prepare for their children, particularly as food banks often rely on long-life items.

Another parent shared that usually they cannot always afford to include vegetables in their dinners, so being able to pick up some fresh produce meant they could easily add it to their family meals.

With hunger affecting families across Sussex & Surrey, FareShare Sussex & Surrey is keen to expand its work with schools, showing that setting up a school pantry can be a simple, effective way to support families locally.

If you are part of a school or preschool community in Surrey and think a pantry could benefit your families, FareShare Sussex & Surrey would love to hear from you. Weekly deliveries of fresh, chilled and ambient food can be arranged, with support to help pantries get up and running.

To find out more, email [email protected] or visit the website.