Meet the Angmering community star who is feeding 16 families in the second lockdown

Amanda Phillips is a single mum of four, so she knows a thing or two about the hard work it takes to put meals on the table.

When the pandemic hit, the good Samaritan – a volunteer for Worthing Soup Kitchen who hosted a Boxing Day meal for people spending Christmas alone last year – stepped up to the plate again.

Now, she is making and handing out weekly food parcels to 16 struggling households in Littlehampton and the nearby villages, and is raising money for Christmas hampers for those in need.

When asked why she does it, the 42-year-old said: “I know what it is like to struggle. I work, and I still struggle.

“I just love doing it. Everybody at the moment needs help, there isn’t a certain criteria.”

The canteen worker at Morrisons in Wick set up a Facebook page, Sparkles Food Parcels, through which families have asked for help. Some had lost their jobs or had their hours cut due to the pandemic, she said.

Donations are made by dropping items into the orange box in Sainsbury’s in Rustington Retail Park, the Co-op in The Square, Angmering or her home in Arundel Road, Angmering.

On Tuesday, October 6, Amanda developed a cough, so she and her children had to isolate while she waited for Covid-19 test results, which eventually were negative.

She would normally collect the Sainsbury’s donations and any ‘end of day’ food on a Wednesday, and she could not ask a friend to pick up the donations at her home in case she passed on her cough.

So she took to Facebook, asking Angmering to help – and the village came out in force. Amanda said: “The box in Sainsbury’s was overflowing, which it never normally is, and I had six carrier bags delivered to my front door.”

She wanted to say a ‘massive thank you’ to everyone who donated and to Trish, Carl, Sheryl and Thomas Slade from Littlehampton for doing the deliveries while she was in isolation.

When Amanda launched her Christmas appeal, she raised £310 in three hours thanks to the kindness of the community. Angmering butchers Meat in the Square also pledged turkey joints and other food for the hampers.

To donate, go to crowdfunder.co.uk/sparkles christmasfoodhampers.