A transformed community hub and pay-as-you-feel café that uses surplus food sourced from local providers will open this weekend.

The Fitzherbert Community Hub (FCH) in Kemp Town, Brighton, will open its doors on Saturday following its £1.2 million refurbishment.

People will be able to access “affordable, healthy and delicious food” at the hub’s Real Junk Food Project Brighton café.

The new development is a joint project by the Catholic Parish of East Brighton, which owns the property, Brighton Table Tennis Club, The Real Junk Food Project Brighton and Voices in Exile.

“We currently use more than 100 tonnes of food annually and cook and serve 600 meals a week at to regular weekly cafés at Hollingdean Community Centre and St Luke’s Church Old Shoreham Road as well as our cafe in Gardner Street open five days a week,” said a Real Junk Food Project spokesman.

“We ran a weekly café at St John the Baptist in Kemp Town but this will now be a five day a week venue so we will significantly increase the amount of surplus food we use each year.

“All of our food is served on a pay-as-you-feel donation basis, meaning that it is accessible to everyone no matter what their financial circumstances.

“There is no stigma about eating in our cafes - they aren't soup kitchens but welcoming community spaces where everyone can enjoy a tasty, nutritious meal.”

Supported by The National Lottery, the food project will operate from the Fitzherbert Community Hub and the surplus food café and is designed to foster positive environmental activity and behaviour change, not only in the café but also in the community garden and growing projects, composting initiatives, as well as learning opportunities at the café and school engagement at the FCH.

All the partners of the FCH said they will contribute to making a success of the project and helping with community engagement.

Paul Loman, executive director of the Real Junk Food Project Brighton, said: “We are all excited by the possibilities that are presented to us by such a wonderful space. 

“We have an opportunity to help people who are experiencing food poverty whilst taking meaningful action to address climate change which is having a major effect on all our lives.”