22,495 missing meals in Crawley due to rising cost of living

Even before the fast increase in the rise of inflation, a considerable proportion of our local community were living in poverty, including over a third of the town’s children. Yet, now, with the fastest growing prices in decades, increasing numbers are being forced to take increasingly desperate choices.

Research by Kantar and More In Common, reveals that over 22,000 people in Crawley (over a fifth of the town’s population) are now going hungry in order to save money and 57,362 (almost half of Crawley residents are cutting back on heating and energy.

While there’s not much we can do on the ground to fix the issues in the UK economy, over the last few months Crawley Labour members have been hard at work collecting donations of food, clothing and other essentials for local foodbanks and charities to support struggling families through the Winter.

The residents of our town are incredibly generous and despite many struggling themselves, we’ve received donations from hundreds of people keen to do what they can to help their neighbours through these tough times. It’s a real testament to the strength of Crawley’s community.

If you feel able to help in any way, please know that anything you donate will make a difference to someone needing a little help this Winter. Dates/times for the next few street stalls are below and while we don’t take money directly, details of the charities we are working with are below and most of those will take cash donations.

Thu 19 January – 14.00-16.00 – Gossops Green Parade
Sat 28 January – 13.00-16.00 – Ifield Parade – Ifield Drive
Sat 11 February – 14.00-16.00 – Peterhouse Parade, Pound Hill
Wed 15 February – 14.00-16.00 – Peterhouse Parade, Pound Hill
Thu 23 February – 14.00-16.00 – Southgate West, Tesco – Downland Drive
Sat 4 & Thu 9 March – 14.00-16.00 – Three Bridges Parade

If you could do with a helping hand this Winter, please do make sure to reach out to one of these groups, they will always be there to listen and to do what they can to help:

The Easter Team food bank : 07940 900948
Crawley Open House : 01293 447702
Crawley Free Shop : 07861 907133
Citizens Advice Bureau : 0808 278 7969
Samaritans : 116 123
Open House : https://www.crawleyopenhouse.co.uk/
The Easter Team food bank : https://www.theeasterteam.org/
Crawley Free Shop : https://freeshopcrawley.com/