Campaign to stop 50,000 children suffer '˜holiday hunger' as free school meals stop

The 'safety net' of free school meals can lead to hunger for many in the school holidays, End Child Poverty said.

Figures from End Child Poverty show that 50,002 children in the region are at risk of falling into “holiday hunger” during the 2018 summer school holidays, when the safety net of free school meals is removed.

More than 85 per cent of food banks working with the Co-op said they see rise in demand from families during the summer holidays when youngsters no longer have a meal at school.

This often leaves people trying to stretch their budgets in order to eat and in some cases going without proper food during the holidays, the Co-op said.

In response, the Co-op is hoping to repeat the success of previous Christmas and Easter foodbank campaigns, when more than 85,000 items were donated, with its Summer Food Bank Appeal. For three months from June to August, customers are being asked to drop off one or more items, ranging from staple food items such as tea, sugar and cereals, to toiletries.

The items will be used to create either bigger food parcels for families with children or to provide special packed lunches for projects that tackle holiday hunger during the summertime.

Central England Co-operative chief executive, Martyn Cheatle, said: “We wanted to ensure that this great support continued and, after speaking to our food bank partners, knew that helping to tackle holiday hunger was the right thing to do.

“This summer we are appealing to our customers and members to support our campaign and help youngsters in need and their families so they don’t have to go without during the holidays. All we are asking is that people drop off one or more items into our food banks this summer and help make a real difference.”

Chairman of the End Child Poverty coalition, Anna Feuchtwang, said: “Holiday hunger, when children lose the lunch provided by school, is an urgent problem and a direct consequence of rising levels of child poverty across the UK.

“Food banks are now critical sources of support and without urgent action increasing numbers of families will be reliant on the generosity of the public to feed their children.”