Sanctus and Project 63

Project 63 was established almost 4 years ago with the purpose of supplying fresh fruit and vegetables to various charities, plus growing some more experimental crops which ordinarily most may not consider. In terms of the food donations, over the last two years our principal destination has been the Charity Sanctus, based in Broomfield Road, Chelmsford, which offers day space for the homeless and vulnerable and provides hot and cold food, seven days a week.

A number of fellow plot holders also donated excess fruit and vegetables with project 63 last year, and we are planning again this year to supply Sanctus from Project 63 together with any additional donations from fellow plot holders. We thought it would be useful to let Association members know a little more about Sanctus, and Sandra kindly offered an article for the website together with accompanying images in terms of their activities.

The number of meals they provide per month is a staggering number. A big thank you to Sandra for taking the time out from a really busy environment to provide the details for us.

Before COVID-19 Sanctus was a day space for the homeless and vulnerable in Chelmsford. Sanctus offered free food and beverages from 10:30 till 5pm seven days a week. Sanctus is a registered charity and relies on donations, grants and internal fund raising to keep open.

Prior to COVID-19 Sanctus volunteers would collect unsold sandwiches and cakes from Greggs, Pret a Manger, Tesco Express and other supermarkets at the end of their trading day. These foods would be kept in a fridge in the free café and service users could help themselves. Occasionally there would be vegetables donated and we would use these in our meals. Every day a hot meal would be freshly prepared and served. I would be responsible for the menu but basically it would be very traditional home cooking such as cottage pie, roast dinner, Bolognese, curry, casserole etc.



In 2019 the Sanctus support hub opened upstairs to the café which provides information, therapies, addiction support, housing support, employment advice, courses in IT and other back to work courses and counselling.

Sanctus employs a handful of people but is reliant on volunteers helping in the café, support hub, collections and fundraising. Until this March our service users would come to the café to eat, socialise, get support and enjoy a safe space off the streets.

However, since the Corona virus we have had to close the day space and resort to a takeaway service. We have been providing a daily hot meal and the equivalent of a packed lunch so that everyone can eat later in the day. Every day we have sent 28-30 dinners to the hotel where many homeless people have been temporarily housed, fed a further 15-20 homeless who come to the café door and a further 20-30 vulnerable people who need food and use Sanctus.



We have been serving food that is easy to eat from a takeaway foil dish such as casseroles, pasta dishes, sausage and mash etc always including meat, carbohydrates and vegetables. We also need to cater for 3-4 vegetarians. I have to be aware of costs whilst providing nutritious meals and have learnt to be flexible always making good use of donations. So, if for example vegetables are donated I would use them as soon as possible as a main veg for the meal or if not enough I would use them to fill out a Bolognese or in a casserole, in a sauce or freeze them.



I think its important to see how valuable our services are to the community and how demand has grown, I have kept records since I started at Sanctus in April 2016.

In April 2016 we served 247 meals
In April 2017 we served 813 meals
In April 2018 we served 1295 meals
In April 2019 we served 1614 meals
In April 2020 we served 2123 meals


For more information about the charity Sanctus, its organisation and activities, please visit www.sanctus-home.com. All words and images courtesy of Sandra at Sanctus.