About us

Our model is simple: combine surplus food with inclusive employment to create lasting social value.

We’re a community food social enterprise and 100% not for profit. We generate income through donations, grants and trade, but every pound goes back into rescuing food, feeding people, and creating opportunities locally.

We’re contributing to a more sustainable and inclusive food system across Sussex, keeping good food in circulation, creating jobs, and making nutritious food accessible to the community.

Up to half of all food produced globally is wasted. We focus predominently on farm level surplus, working with growers to stop good food being lost and put it to better use.

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meet the team

Phil

Phil (Co-founder) is an environmentalist who loves food. In 2017 he became the Sussex Gleaning Coordinator and has since visited dozens of farms across Sussex and Kent rescuing surplus fruit and veg. After teaming up . Phil leads on the organisational management of Sussex Surplus and enjoys getting stuck into the practical side of things too.

Ingrid Wakeling

Ingrid (Head Chef & Co-founder) is a local chef who loves working with surplus food in a creative way. Happiest working in a team and sharing her passion for food, Ingrid is inspired by flavours from around the world and the amazing produce of Sussex. Ingrid believes passionately that through communication, inclusivity and food activism we can create the change we want to see in the world.

Josh

Josh (Community Commis Chef) loves trying out new ideas for recipes and saving food that would be wasted. He knows accessibility of good food for lots of disabled people who are isolated needs to be improved. In 2021 Josh wrote a One Pot Manifesto calling for healthy Food Access for All, which he presented at the COP 26 summit in Glasgcow. He has since has turned this manifesto into a recipe book and monthly cook along supper club.

Abi

Abi (Community Outreach Coordinator) has been building an interest in community food since being a teenager and is excited to get stuck in with the project, producing and providing food for the local community and creating connections with other do-ers in the area. She is particularly keen on working with surplus food products as she is hopeful about the potential of its knock-on effects.

Sophie

Sophie (Community Kitchen Coordinator) has worked as a chef locally around Brighton and loves to put her skills to use to benefit the community she grew up in. She is passionate about the importance of healthy, sustainable food and the impact it has on us individually and the environment. Sophie believes that education is key to change and advocates for disability and neuro-diversity awareness, supporting equal opportunities for all.

Sol

Sol (Sous Chef) loves to create satisfying and healthy meals from surplus food, and is enthusiastic about strengthening bonds within the community that will allow living an enriched lifestyle more readily accessible. With a growing interest in hands-on community work, he is eager to disrupt the wasteful food pipeline and encourage a passion of inclusive, equitable care.