‘In the Bag’ to provide another 1,000 meal kits after winter fundraiser beats target

Sussex Cricket Foundation and Brighton & Hove Food Partnership’s ‘In the Bag’ initiative will see over a thousand meal kits delivered to families in need in the coming weeks after a winter fundraiser beat its target of £3,500.

Thanks to the generosity of listeners to cricket commentary website, Guerilla Cricket - who led the fundraising effort after hearing of the success of last summer’s first edition of ‘In the Bag’ – a total of £3,685 had been raised when the campaign closed on Sunday evening.

Once ‘gift aid’ is added, the money raised will be enough for Brighton & Hove Food Partnership to deliver at least 1,150 bags containing everything needed for a family to cook a nutritious meal from scratch.

The deliveries will take place during two two-week periods in February and April, when food insecurity for families is likely to be particularly acute.

Bags will also each contain a copy of the Sussex Cricket Activity Booklet to help keep kids entertained as well as details of the Sussex Cricket Foundation Street Cricket programme in Whitehawk for anyone keen to get involved in playing when guidelines permit.

Gary Wallis-Tayler, Sussex Cricket’s director of community cricket said, “Food poverty is a currently a huge issue and we are delighted to continue to help support what is a fantastic initiative working alongside the Brighton & Hove Food Partnership. The food bags provided we hope will go some way to helping families in our local community during this extremely challenging time. We are extremely grateful to the team at Guerilla Cricket for their amazing support in helping us reach our target and we look forward to working together again in the future”

Vic Borrill, director at Brighton & Hove Food Partnership said, “Thank you so much Guerilla Cricket, Sussex Cricket Foundation and everyone who has donated to the ‘In the Bag’ fundraising campaign. We will now be able to provide more than 1,000 food bag recipe kits to families experiencing food poverty. The generosity of the cricket community will make a real difference to children at this difficult time.”

Tony Bishop, Guerilla Cricket commentator and marketing lead added, “’In the Bag’ is such an important cause and Guerilla Cricket have been honoured to help. The support of our global community of listeners and followers has been nothing short of amazing, enabling us to comfortably exceed the £3,500 target. It’s been quite a connection we’ve formed with Sussex Cricket Foundation and Brighton & Hove Food Partnership and most importantly it’s ensured well over 1,000 food bags are delivered where they will make a real difference. We’ve had some fun along the way too as those who took part in our fundraising quiz will testify.”

What is 'In the Bag'?

‘In the Bag’ is a partnership between Sussex Cricket Foundation and Brighton & Hove Food Partnership to deliver bagged recipe kits to families in need as identified by the city’s Emergency Food Network.

The scheme is part of Sussex Cricket Foundation’s efforts to address the repercussions of the Covid-19 pandemic across the county, of which food insecurity is one. Over six weeks in summer 2020, 1,247 recipe bags were provided to at least 305 families in need thanks to £4,000 raised through Together Through This Test, cricket’s national fundraising effort.

Each of the bags contained recipes and all the ingredients needed to make the recipe apart from salt/pepper and oil. The Food Partnerships aimed for healthier recipes that included vegetables and or fruit, that were easy to make and that provided options for children’s involvement.

Following the success of the summer 2020 scheme, it was decided that ‘In the Bag’ would be return during the school summer holidays each year. Guerilla Cricket’s fundraising drive has also allowed ‘In the Bag’ to take place this winter.