St Peter & St Paul Rustington- Pantry

Pantry News April 2026:

Pantry:  

We managed to squeeze in an extra Pantry Social this month and held a lovely Easter celebration with music, a singalong led by Rev Natalie, and the Easter story retold as a performance. The hall looked beautiful with festive decorations and daffodils.  Around 70 guests shared a fish and chips meal, thanks to the generosity of The Quill, L Guess Jewellers, FA Holland Funeralcare and Cuff Miller. Thank you also to everyone who donated this Easter, your kindness is deeply appreciated, it was a very special occasion.  We gave out the last of the Easter treats and with 81 households using the Pantry this week, our shelves are now running low. If you can help, we would be grateful for donations of the following items please:  milk, cereals, teabags, squash and tinned fruit.  Thank you so much for your love and prayers. 

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.