St Peter & St Paul Rustington- Pantry

Pantry News March 2026:

Pantry:  

It felt like spring had finally arrived on a bright, clear, Wednesday morning.  Our Church Pantry session ran alongside Coffee Break and we had 65 households visit us.  This was the first of four weeks where we will be asking our Pantry users to complete a survey form.  The data is needed for grant applications and to get feedback on how we run our service.  We received the wonderful news this week, that Rustington Parish Council have awarded us £400 to help with the running costs of the Georgian Gardens Pantry.  We are delighted that our Church is now a Citizens Advice Outreach venue for anyone in the community to access free impartial confidential advice. Citizens Advice will be in the Church from 4pm-6pm on Wednesday 4^th March, running alongside the Pantry session. 

If you are able to help us to restock our cupboards, we are short of milk, tuna, pasta, pasta sauce and tinned fruit.  Thank you for your kindness.

The Pantry Team

St. Peter and St. Paul's Pantry in Rustington Church Hall has created a safe and welcoming space where people in our community who are struggling to get by can top up their weekly food supplies.  On 6th October 2021, the Pantry opened its doors to the community with tables full of dry food; and is open every Wednesday (at different times).

The Pantry is supplied with food items provided by the generosity of the Church's parishioners. We are also proud to work with some fantastic partners - the Butcher & Deli in Rustington, COOK in Rustington, the Littlehampton Community Fridge, Sainsbury's in Littlehampton and Morrisons in Littlehampton - are all playing a vital role in supporting the Pantry. During the lockdown many of these food suppliers provided good quality food to local families receiving regular food donations at their front doors. Our local food suppliers welcome the launch of the Pantry because they are driven to support local people in need and at the same time reduce waste and disposal costs.

The root of our action is clearly the compassion that our Church has for local people who are struggling to feed themselves and their families because their incomes do not stretch far enough. At the Pantry anyone can come along and access good food with dignity and choice (no questions asked). We are hoping this provision gives people the means to stay afloat in tough times.

Since the opening of the Pantry, it has been well used. This shows that there are a significant number of people in our community who are experiencing food insecurity. No doubt the lockdown hit some families very hard but our Church's provision of a Pantry is a testament that we are exercising our Christian calling to help people in need.

We also expect the Pantry to be a place where relationships are built and not just a place where physical needs are met.