One million children avoid hunger this summer thanks to volunteer army of heroes
Very good article demonstrating that action to address these challenges and indeed the challenges themselves, are not just urban challenges.
In idyllic rural England this summer, as holidaymakers headed to the North Devon coast, the community in Great Torrington was banding together to stop children going hungry.
From free breakfast clubs to food hubs, the historic small town – once at the centre of the English civil war – was determined no child would miss meals during the summer holidays.
“Last month, the foodbank saw one of the busiest Saturdays in years,” says Siobhan Strode, a local teacher, town councillor and Unite Community chair for Devon.
Meanwhile, a food hub at the Castle Hill Centre – where out-of-date grub collected by Fareshare was left in a larder for hungry families – was in constant use.
“Although we don’t count how many families use the food hub, we know it’s well used,” Siobhan, 34, says. “Every loaf of bread we put out is taken by the end of the day.”
This summer, in schools and foodbanks and holiday clubs across Britain, an army of heroes have been keeping children from hunger.
Against a rising tide of poverty, charities and volunteers are expected to have fed around one million kids over the last six weeks, when there have been no free school meals and parents struggle with childcare costs.
As the nation heads back to work next week, it’s clear the damage done to kids by summer hardship is not just to their health.
A recent study by Cardiff University of 103,971 children showed those from poorer backgrounds were more likely to report loneliness as well as hunger during the summer holidays, and were less likely to spend time with friends or engage in physical activities.
Yet this summer, the Department for Education opted only to support holiday hunger projects in 11 “pilot areas”. This meant 81 organisations that bid for Department for Education help, from Birkenhead to Bristol to Barnsley, saw their funding bids rejected.