BACA Bevy Meals on Wheels - 20/04/2020
BACA has been a leading partner in a project to provide ‘meals on wheels’ and emergency food provision for families in need and vulnerable members of the local community. 
When the Government announced that schools and other community organisations would have to close their doors indefinitely due to the COVID-19 global pandemic, we knew this would be worrying news for the local community and wanted to help.
Our Principal, Mr R Speight, said “There are so many unknowns in the coming weeks and months, but we are keen to do everything we can to help our community get through this challenging period. While obviously focussing on supporting our students' learning and wellbeing during this period, we knew we have to also reach out further.”
The academy is lucky to have fantastic catering facilities and a true professional in chef Ricky Hodgson, who was willing to combine his vital role as Head of Year 10 with the leadership of this project.
The Bevy is a groundbreaking community pub and café that has been serving the local area for five years since its reopening. BACA students and staff have worked on projects with the Bevy before, including support with The Friday Friends Club which provides a weekly meal and entertainment for more than 50 seniors.
With some help from other local organisations, BACA joined the Bevy in setting up a meals on wheels 
service to support our students and their families, as well as other vulnerable members of the wider community. Within a week, a core team of our staff had cooked, chilled and frozen over 800 meals that could be safely and easily reheated at home.
Since then, we are delighted to announce that Sir Rod Aldridge, through the Aldridge Foundation charity, is making a £10,000 contribution to support this project over the next two months, which significantly increases the number of people we can reach. That funding will enable an additional 400 meals per week over the next 12 weeks to be cooked and distributed.
Chef Ricky who has been leading the efforts in the kitchen said “to be in a position to help out in any small way in the community I have been a part of for many years is really important to me". Also amongst the team is long term BACA community member Carly, who said “I love working for Moulsecoomb forest garden and wildlife project, BACA and the Bevy. This collaboration is an essential way of maintaining our great work and continuity whilst supporting our local community at such a hard time.” and Senior Student Manager Mr Smith, “I feel that the school has and always will be a pivotal part of the community. When we can, we will help.”
The meals are made in our academy’s catering kitchen and are produced from surplus food ingredients and fresh produce, coordinated and delivered to BACA via the Bevy, from Fareshare Sussex via the Bevy, Brighton Food Factory and other local organisations. We then provide a contact-free, doorstep delivery service of these meals, tinned goods and other essentials to families in need.
We have seen a great response to our efforts so far and we intend to continue to do as much as we can to support those in need.
Please note that you can still contact the school whilst we are closed. The main phone line is currently open between 8:30am - 3:00pm Mon - Fri, or you can email us at office@baca-uk.co.uk. Email addresses for other key members of staff can be found on the Meet the Team page on our academy website.