January Update 2026

Happy New Year to all our centre users and volunteers!
Things are a little calmer at BUCFP after the busy Christmas period, so here’s a reminder of what we currently have on offer.

Weekly Activities

Monday – Allotment Day
Please speak to Carol or Claire if you are interested in volunteering.
🕐 1pm – 5pm
Please note: the main centre building is closed on Mondays.

Tuesday

  • ESOL Drop-in with Paul: 10am – 11.30am

  • Drop-in Yoga with Becky: 11.45am – 1pm

Wednesday – CLOSED

Thursday

  • ESOL with Sue (women only) – restarting 26th February

  • Creative Expression with Janina: 11.30am – 1pm

Friday

  • ESOL with Lucinda: 10am – 11.30am

  • Yoga with Becky: 11.30am – 1pm

Other Services

Alongside our groups, we also offer:

  • Welfare rights service

  • Low-cost laundry

  • IT suite

  • Our lovely vegan lunch, served at 1pm each day we are open 🌱

Special Event

Friday 30th January
🕐 Happiness to Wellness Session: 1.45pm – 3pm

South East Dance will be joining us to teach us how to boogie 💃
There will also be a raffle with some amazing prizes on offer.

Everybody is welcome!

SIM Cards

We’ve recently stopped giving out free data, and SIM cards at the centre, but are now able to recommend o2 and other databank providers in the city.

The easiest way to get a free SIM loaded with data is to read about it here -

https://www.o2.co.uk/national-databank-t-cs

you’ll find o2 stores in the town centre.

When the capacity allows us, we’ll be giving SIMs out at the centre again, but for now o2 stores and other databank providers are available in the city.

https://www.goodthingsfoundation.org/find-support/map

Winter & Xmas Info Guide 2025

Live dashboard of useful info for referrers and people needing food support from December to January. It includes food project opening times and festive meal events.

https://airtable.com/appnh7kPQUvi6JofM/shrqlxicBTZmBdLjd?0Wzno=allRecords

Click on an event for full info. Use the top tabs to see the information displayed as a calendar or list view. These pages are available to print, but please be aware the document will update as new info is added. 

-

See also:

https://bhfood.org.uk/winter-opening-times-and-festive-meals/

-

https://bhfood.org.uk/directory-map/

And

https://ageingwellbh.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Festive-Directory-AG25-Dec03.pdf

And

https://www.cabrightonhove.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Festive-period-2025-Advice-and-Food-services-open-in-December.pdf

November & Xmas 2025

This month our winter wellness sessions went down a treat. We had soup making, hot chocolate, raffles, movement to music and prizes galore. Our next session is on 5th December at 1.45, we will then have a break for Christmas and commence again in the New year. Everybody is welcome to join the fun. 

Joy has been busy organising the Children party on the 6th December. The party is now full but you can still be added to the reserve list in case anyone drops out. If you are not on the list then you will not be able to attend and will be turned away on the day. If you are on the reserve list then please phone up that week to see if you have been put on the main list. Thank you in advance to the staff and volunteers who give up their time to make this event happen. 

Christmas party time – The date for the Christmas party is 12th December, we will open the centre at 12.30 for people to arrive. Please do not turn up before that as we have a lot to prepare before the lunch is served. All volunteers and centre users are invited, please add your name to the list on the cupboard door in the main area. 

Please note the centre will be very busy on party days and things will be loud!

Christmas opening hours. The last day before the Christmas break will be Friday 19th December and we will reopen on Tuesday 30th December and will also be open on Friday 2nd Jan 2026. Please ask staff for clarification if you are unsure.

In memory of Valerie Mainstone

Valerie has recently sadly passed away. At BUCFP we'd like to pay tribute to her well over 20 years of volunteering commitment to the centre, and say a few words from those who knew her best. 

Valerie was a much-valued and dedicated welfare rights advisor for many years at our centre and will be sadly missed. I clearly remember her chairing the weekly meetings with great humour as well as her boundless energy and compassion. I also knew Valerie from her leading role in the Defend NHS campaign group, one amongst many of her worthwhile causes, and am certain that she touched the lives of many, all of whom will remember her with great affection.

- Richard. BUCFP welfare rights. 

Valerie was deeply kind and caring. She was a helpful and courageous supporter of others. She worked tirelessly supporting many causes including the peace movement and defending the rights of minorities and had a keen interest in the history of these campaigns. She truly put people at ease, was a great listener. Her quiet supportive words helped many and she will be greatly missed.

- Ben. Previously BUCFP welfare rights. 

She was passionate about helping others. her never ending energy and ability to put people at ease. Having the pleasure working with her she definitely left her mark in my life as well as those lucky enough to know her.

- Paul. BUCFP welfare rights.

October update

This month was the launch of our Winter warmer well being sessions. The first session went down really well with games, quizzes, prizes and fun. We have another 3 sessions planned on the 7th November, 21st November and the 5th December. For 2 of these sessions we will have dancing and music, make sure you join in the fun. Everyone is welcome, centre users old and new, volunteers and staff will be around to introduce people who are here for the first time. 

This month we had a workshop about smoking cessation for people who are curious about giving up smoking. Quite a few centre users were keen to learn more about what their options were in terms of giving up without any pressure. We hope to have more sessions soon.

Our playroom had a Halloween party for all the playroom children and volunteers at BUCFP. All the kids had a great time. 

Please check out the website to keep up to date with the latest timetable of activities.

Happy Halloween everyone.

Treasurer – Board of Trustees Brighton Unemployed Centre Families Project (BUCFP) Volunteer (unpaid role)

Brighton Unemployed Centre Families Project is a small but vital charity supporting severely disadvantaged families and individuals in Brighton. We run a busy community centre with around 8 part-time staff and over 100 volunteers, delivering a wide range of services to improve lives and tackle inequality. Our annual turnover is approximately £250,000. 

We are looking for a volunteer Treasurer to join our Board of Trustees. This is a key role in overseeing the charity’s finances, helping to ensure we remain financially sustainable, compliant, and able to continue our work in the community. 

Main Responsibilities 

Oversee the financial affairs of the charity and ensure they are legal, constitutional, and within accepted accounting practice. 

Work with staff to ensure proper financial records, systems, and policies are in place. 

Present clear financial reports to the Board to support decision-making. 

Oversee preparation of annual accounts. 

Monitor budgets, and funding to ensure the charity remains financially healthy. 

Act as a financial sounding board for the staff team and trustees. 

Commitment Required

Attend at least 6 of 12 monthly trustee meetings (in person at the centre or remotely). 

Attend 4 quarterly development days per year (in person or remote). 

Occasional additional availability for financial queries, especially around budget-setting, audits, or funding applications. 

What We Offer 

A rewarding voluntary role with real impact in Brighton. 

The chance to use your skills to support a well-loved local charity. 

Experience of charity governance and finance. 

Being part of a passionate, supportive trustee team. 


Company number 1069236

Charity number 03537262

Please contact -

Claire Harrison

volunteers@bucfp.org

September update.

Another busy month at the centre, our cooks did an amazing job of holding things together while we had problems in the kitchen. They put together some wonderful cold buffet style lunches and we are so grateful for their patience.

With the closure of the centre on Wednesdays we have noticed that the days we are open are getting busier, this creates a great atmosphere in the centre but sometimes a longer wait for lunch. Remember we start serving at 1pm so make sure you get here in time.

We are making changes to our emergency food process. We are no longer giving out food ad hoc. Instead we will be supporting people to make referrals to the food bank, signposting to other services and help to access our computers to look at budgeting skills. Please remember you can only receive a supermarket voucher from us once, if you have had one from us please do not ask again. We know these changes can be difficult to process but we want to ensure we always have enough food to give people in food crisis. Always remember we offer a low cost lunch Tuesday/Thursday and Friday and we usually have lots of goodies on the free table so help yourself. 

We had a Citizens advice workshop here on the 24th, we are hoping this will be a monthly and ongoing addition. We will have more information about this in the October update. 

In October Friday Yoga will now be on a Thursday at 11.30. No need to book, just turn up. 

Janina’s creative expression is a hit with our centre users, again no need to book, just turn up and Janina will guide you. No experience needed. 

On the 24th October our first Winter warmer workshop starts. We have a great line up for you including games/ raffles/cooking/dancing and fun. This is being offered to current centre users and hopefully will bring in some new people too!

We had a lovely group of students from Brighton college visit our allotment this month, they did a great job of working together and painting the shed. We’ve had some great produce from the garden recently, apples, salad, chilli’s and coming soon squashes. 

Have a great month.