New community food hub opens in Burgess Hill

We’ve partnered with environmental and social impact charity UKHarvest to help lower food waste and insecurity. The partnership has begun with us donating £8,400 towards the opening and running of a new UKHarvest Community Food Hub for one year at The King’s Church in Burgess Hill, West Sussex.

UKHarvest is dedicated to preventing food waste and food insecurity, using food rescue, education, engagement and innovation to tackle food waste and help people eat well for less. The charity collects excess food from producers, farmers and commercial outlets and delivers it directly to people in need. To date, UKHarvest has served 6.7 million meals to local communities, rescued over 2,850 tonnes of food and reached over 20,500 participants to share knowledge through its education programmes. This impact has been achieved via redistribution to other charities, initiatives delivered in schools and through its Community Food Hubs.

Community Food Hubs provide customers with the opportunity to prevent food waste by collecting surplus edible food rescued by UKHarvest that otherwise would be sent to landfill and offering support and advice to reduce household food waste. In a survey conducted by UKHarvest in summer 2024, 85% of customers agreed that using a Community Food Hub had helped them to reduce their food waste. The hubs also enable people to access food they otherwise would not be able to afford, with 73% of customers reporting this to be the case. 80% of survey respondents also said that using a UKHarvest Community Food Hub had increased the amount of fruit and vegetables they eat on a regular basis.

The new Community Food Hub in Burgess Hill launched on Monday, 10 March, with local MP Alison Bennett in attendance along with dignitaries from Burgess Hill Town Council, including Town Mayor Councillor Janice Henwood and council leader Councillor Peter Williams.

Sarah Crush, our Social Value Manager, said: “We’re always looking to support charities that align with our business principles and create social value. We were impressed by a sustainability campaign UKHarvest ran, so partnering with the charity to aid its mission to reduce food waste and insecurity was an easy decision to make. Being active in Burgess Hill means we’re also committed to enhancing the local community, so we’re delighted to play a key role in the opening of a new Community Food Hub in the town.”

Yvonne Thomson, CEO of UKHarvest, added: “Thakeham’s generous donation to UKHarvest means that we will be able to deliver a brand-new Community Food Hub in Burgess Hill. Our Community Food Hubs offer a warm and welcoming space for the local community, creating access to fresh, surplus food as well as a range of local support services. Collaborating with organisations like Thakeham enables UKHarvest to ensure that our rescued food reaches those in need, within all our local communities. With 16 existing Community Food Hubs in operation across West Sussex, we hope this new partnership inspires more local and national organisations to work directly with us to support their local communities in 2025. Thank you to Thakeham for choosing to work with UKHarvest – we can’t wait to get the food hub off the ground in Burgess Hill.”

We are currently building a fully net-zero carbon community of 120 homes in Burgess Hill at our Templegate development. As well as the sustainable homes, the scheme will also provide a new children’s playground for the wider community, a nature corridor and additional cycle routes and footpaths to provide sustainable access to local facilities and public transport. We are delivering Templegate in a joint venture partnership with housing association Aster Group.