Ten Sussex charities will pitch for £150,000 at the Corn Exchange on 9 November

Ten small Sussex charities will pitch for a share of £150,000 at the Brighton Dome Corn Exchange on Monday 9 November, at the second Angels’ Den² Sussex. Doors open at 6.30pm and the pitches start at 7pm.

The host is Focus Foundation^1,3, the philanthropic arm of Focus Group. Six Angels each put in £12,500, and the foundation matches their £75,000 to make the pot. This year’s Angels include Sarah Willingham, formerly of BBC’s Dragons’ Den, and Sir Rod Aldridge, who founded Capita.

Each finalist explains what it does, what it needs and what the money would change. The Angels then decide how to split the pot, and every finalist leaves with some funding. The ten were picked from more than 100 applications.

Stay Up Late^4,8, a Brighton-based charity, runs Gig Buddies, which pairs volunteers with adults with learning disabilities and autistic people to go to gigs together. The Old Boat Corner Community Association runs a community centre for Hollingbury, Patcham and Coldean. Time to Talk Befriending matches lonely older people with befrienders in Brighton and Hove, Adur and Worthing. FareShare Sussex & Surrey⁷ works with 279 organisations to get surplus food to people who need it. The finalists also include StrongMen and Figment Arts.

The event is open to the public. A ticket works as a donation and as a say in the audience vote, which directs extra money to one charity. The first event, at Brighton i360 on 6 November 2025, drew more than 200 guests. The Real Junk Food Project Brighton came away with £8,750 and MindOut with £5,000.