Brighton Unemployed Centre Families Project (BUCFP)

Brighton Unemployed Centre Families Project (BUCFP) is a registered charity, run by the unemployed for the unemployed.  It relies almost entirely on volunteers to help run the centre.  It provides practical support, education and recreation for those in poor housing, claimants, unwaged people and those on low incomes. BUCFP has an open access policy, but access is limited due to the stairs.

Cafe
A healthy, cooked lunch is served at 1.00pm daily on weekdays. The centre has a vegan policy so that almost anyone is able to eat at the centre.

Vegan lunch £1.50/ free in crisis Monday - Friday 1.00pm-2.00pm. Tea, coffee etc available all day. Wholefood Co-op everyday 10.30-12 noon. The centre is open Tuesday-Friday 10.00-4.00pm

Laundry Services
At the centre, there is a small laundry consisting of an industrial machine and drier which is mainly aimed at helping people in temporary housing to reduce their costs. Washing and drying, including powder is available for a nominal fee of £2.00. Slots are bookable in advance, so call in or telephone to arrange a session in advance.

Playroom
The BUCFP playroom offers free drop in places for the children of people using the centre and its services. Parents can volunteer in the centre, take part in free or low cost activities whilst their children are in the playroom, or just relax and have a bit of time to themselves. The setting is run by qualified Early Years Teachers in conjunction with a mixed team of qualified paid staff and volunteers all who are DBS checked.

The centre serves the unemployed and low waged people of Brighton and Hove, offering a low cost nutritious lunch, cheap laundry facilities, I.T support, welfare benefits advice, courses and classes and lots more.

Parents/carers must stay on the premises whilst their children are in the playroom.

Tuesday 10.00am – 1.00pm
Wednesday 10.00am -1.00pm
Thursday 10.00am – 1.00pm
Friday  10.00am - 1.00pm

Advice
The Welfare Rights volunteer team provides a drop-in advice service on all aspects of social security & welfare, including:

One-to-one support to complete applications
Contacting DWP and the local authority
Lodging mandatory reconsiderations and appeals support with the Tribunals service

Drop-in times are:
10.00am-1.00pm and 2.00pm-4.00pm Tuesday to Thursday
2.00pm-4.00pm on Fridays

The drop-in works on a first come, first served basis, so recommended to arrive 15 minutes early as there’s often a queue. There is a dedicated service for ESA & PIP applications & forms and these need to be booked in advance as this takes an entire session – call 01273 676 171, leave a message and we’ll get back to you.

Confidential Advice Line 01273 676171 (answerphone – please leave a message)

Please call centre reception for more info on 01273 601211.

Courses
The Centre runs many courses for the unemployed and unwaged - healthy living, creative sessions, languages, computing and much more. For more information and times on individual courses please call or look at the website. Other people may come on our courses if there is a space not required by an unwaged person.

Housing
The Temporary Housing Project offers advice and practical support to people living in poor quality accomodation. They have equipment to either give away or loan on a long term basis, laundry facilities, lobbying and writing letters on your behalf, helping with school or nursery places and much more.