Fitzjohns Community Food, Lewes

Fitzjohns Community Food in Lewes recently transitioned from a traditional food bank to an affordable food club model. Anyone in the local area is able to join as a member, and new joiners are offered their first six weeks of food for free. After that, everyone is asked to contribute £3.50 each week for a choice of around £25 worth of food. There is also a free cafe serving freshly prepared meals, and a community navigator who offers wrap around support. Fitzjohns also operate a Crisis Fund, and can issue one off payments to support their members when a washing machine breaks down, a car needs unexpected repairs or if someone needs help with their membership fees.

Fitzjohns Coordinator, Ruby got in touch to share a recent email exchange (the member gave Ruby permission to share the email, but their name has been changed to protect their privacy and some parts have been edited for pacing), that shone a light on how members can experience a loss of dignity when accessing community food support.

We loved Ruby’s approach to communicating clearly with M and the steps she took to minimise the embarrassment and shame that M was experiencing. She was also transparent about the limitations of the service, and why certain decisions have been made. It’s also nice to hear that there are opportunities for members at Fitzjohns to get directly involved in local advocacy work, and for M to share her experience more widely if she’d like to.

Here is M’s letter:

To Ruby,

Sorry for emailing but since joining [Fitzjohns] 4 weeks ago I’ve received conflicting advice, so wanted to be sure that you’ve emailed my daughter.

My adult daughter (P) and I are both registered on higher level of disability due to an autoimmune genetic disorder, EDS 3. As s result of the pandemic we live with Long Covid and today I have spinal, heart and lung problems. I care for my adult daughter as she is too unwell to live alone at present. She has Long Covid, EDS 3, ADHD and recently had developed heart issues. We both live on a very low income. 

We didn’t claim foodbank until joining [a local food bank] last year. By then we couldn’t pay basic bills or eat regularly, which tbh felt shameful and embarrassing. [Food bank] changed our lives and there are not enough words to express my gratitude towards folk like you who make life so much better for folk like us.

Due to autoimmune issues, our diet is really limited. I can’t digest most processed food or foods rich in dairy or wheat, which is a nightmare when poor. I didn’t want to seem ungrateful, but had to leave [the food bank], as they use mainly tinned and processed food which we couldn’t use. Then we heard about [Fitzjohns] with its fresh veg and it’s been brilliant. I can now create daily meals from fresh produce so P and I can eat regularly now.

At [the food bank] we were catergorised as a family and each week recieved a family bag. When we first joined Fitzjohns I was told only I could make use of it. Then, as I registered last week the lady told me I could use a seperate bag for P.  Today P told me that’s incorrect and we can only take enough for one person. That’s why I’m checking with you, to be sure.

It makes sense not to seperately register as P  lives with me at present.  I’m just not clear why she isn’t able to claim or be registered for [Fitzjohns] as well, as there is two of us who live there?  Her income is really low as she lives off PIP and is only able to work 5 hours a week.

I’m embarrassed to ask as I’m scared I’ll be seen as greedy, which I’m really not. It took two years for me to admit we couldn’t manage and by then we’d sold everything we could, stopped using heating in the winter and limited hot showers to twice a week

I’d never ask for more than we need. However, feeding two of us… is a challenge at present.

P can pay 3.50 a week, as can I.  Is P mistaken?  If not, could our situation be reviewed at all? 

Thank you for reading my essay. I’m embarrassed tbh so wanted to explain.

And here is Ruby’s response:

Hi M, 

Thank you so much for your email, I really appreciate you taking the time to write it. Firstly, I want to apologise for the confusion, I completely understand how mixed and conflicting messages can make people feel unsure and even nervous about asking more questions. Secondly, I want to say that I'm so sorry for how tough things have been for you and your family and to reassure you that by no means does asking for clarification come across as greedy. Not being able to afford basic necessities is a horrible position to be in.

I coordinate Fitzjohns and am a paid member of staff, however the project is predominantly volunteer run, with over 35 active volunteers (totally amazing, all of them!). The only pitfall of being mostly volunteer led is that sometimes there is a gap in training.

I will try and explain a few things for you (sorry for the length of the reply) and I am more than happy to chat further in person if you'd like to.

I can see on your record that you are a household of two, we categorise that as a 'Standard' household. We have 'Standard' or 'Extra' at Fitzjohns, to count as an 'extra' household there needs to be 3 or more people in the household (not including under 5's). This may well be different to how [the food bank] operates. It sounds like somebody at Fitzjohns has told you that 'Standard' is just one person. This was incorrect information, as all households on our register that have two people are considered 'Standard'.

In terms of amounts of food, we are unfortunately unable to guarantee people a week's worth of food. Usually, a 'Standard' shop at Fitzjohns is enough for two people for around 3 days, although I am hearing that because there are lots of things you can't eat (i.e. the tinned foods) that you are going home with less in your bag than other members. I would like to address this by offering you some additional fresh produce each week, something that we can arrange for the next session on the 2nd of June.

As you have noted, at Fitzjohns we do things a bit differently. We believe people should be able to choose their own food. We also don't ask for referrals and we allow people to attend for as long as they need to. In order to do this we ask for a £3.50 contribution (after the first 6 weeks), however that contribution only covers around 20% of our weekly spend on food. This is why we aren't able to sign up individual people in one household as separate members, because we are really aware of our member numbers and the cost of running the project increasing dramatically. We support around 60 households every week which equates to around 78 adults, and 80 children.

I just wanted to give you this context, as I am really aware that food banks are a bit of a mystery. How do they run? How are they funded? Where does the food come from? These are all questions that aren't obvious when just coming up on a Monday. 

 I also want to tell you about a couple of extra things that we are part of. There is a local project set up by people who work in the food support 'world' (food banks, food projects, community kitchens etc) called 'Pinch Points' which talks to people that have a lived-experience of food insecurity to make sure their voices are being heard. We want to make sure that real stories are being heard by those in charge of policy (both locally and nationally). Would you be interested in hearing more about this? Any involvement can be totally anonymous, but I think your story really shines a light on how awful it is to be in a situation where you can't afford your basic needs. This work is linked to another project called the 'Alliance for Dignified Food Support' which is working on a set of principles to make sure food banks/projects are operating in ways which minimise shame and embarrassment (that you mentioned, and so many others feel too) and reduce stigma.

Actions:

* I am going to make sure all of our volunteers are up-to-date with training and are clear about the difference between 'Standard' and 'Extra' 

* It would be good to know what you can and can't use at the food project, and we can offer you some additional fresh produce instead of the tins/processed items you don't want

I really do appreciate your email and am always happy to chat more. If you would like to be involved in any of the advocacy work we do behind the scenes, do let me know. Your story is very powerful and should be heard I think (anonymously or not). 

Best wishes,

Ruby

Do you have your own story to share? Have you made any changes using our Dignity Toolkit? We’d love to hear about it.

Please email info@alliancefordignifiedfoodsupport.org.uk to get in touch.