St Peter & St Paul Rustington- Pantry

Pantry News January 2026:

Pantry:  

It was a crazy busy Pantry session this week.  Archie from Southern Water had appointments to help people reduce their costs; and Sarah from Home Energy Arun visited us for the first time to give advice on energy bills, give practical advice on keeping our homes warmer and give help with applying for heating and insulation grants.  Sarah enjoyed her visit and has committed to be with us every second Wednesday of the month to work with us on looking after our community.  Please do come along and meet Sarah if you think that she can help you.  If you shop in our local Waitrose, you may have noticed our name on the Green Token Scheme box by the check out.  The more tokens we get, the more money we get - we are competing with a dog sanctuary, so we need all the help we can get!  Please put your token in the Pantry box!!  If you would like to help us restock our cupboards we are short of tuna, milk, cereal, biscuits and tinned fruit.  Thank you for your wonderful support.

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.