No child should go to school hungry, and no child should go hungry over the holidays.
26% of children [in Bristol] live in poverty once housing costs are taken into account. That’s over 22,000 children that are living in households where there isn’t enough money to provide a nutritiously balanced diet.” [1]
[1] A Review of Food Poverty Response in Bristol, 5K Partnership, December 2014
We’re changing the picture of child hunger in the South West.
With need for emergency food provision in the UK reaching record highs, and concerns over food insecurity for vulnerable families growing, we want to change the picture on child hunger in the South West. By partnering up with schools, children’s centres, projects and holiday clubs in the most deprived areas across the region, we are working to get significant quantities of quality food to those most in need. These front line projects and organisations work directly with families and children in crisis or in positions of food insecurity.
In early 2018, we launched a pilot project to provide weekly deliveries of surplus food to 15 Bristol primary schools in areas of high deprivation. Many schools we spoke to had pupil premium levels well over 60%, and all had concerns over children arriving to school hungry, tired and unable to learn. While most schools already had a Breakfast Club in place, for many this was a very limited service, and often restricted by over-stretched funds. Over the holidays, when families who usually rely on Free School Meals face the long six-week gap in food support, there was also a need for food to tackle the issue of Holiday Hunger.
We can provide weekly deliveries of fresh, varied and nutritious food for:
- Breakfast Clubs
- Emergency Food Parcels
- After School Clubs
- Cooking Clubs
- Holiday Clubs
The response from the schools, projects and holiday clubs we work with has been fantastic. Children who were previously arriving at school hungry are now eating a proper Breakfast. Because of the nature of surplus food, we can provide schools with a huge variety of foods, from watermelons to posh cheeses and from yoghurts to cereals. This means children are not only getting a proper meal, but they are getting excited and engaged in the food they eat, too!
“Parents were struggling before to get them in on time here. Now the kids are looking forward to coming in. You can see them all lining up outside in the morning- you didn’t see that before!” Paul Coin, School of Christ the King Breakfast Club, Hartcliffe
“He didn’t used to eat in the mornings, and there was always a drama before school. You can see he’s calmer now and you can see on his plate he’s eating more. I’d never be able to get him fruit and stuff like this. The teachers have noticed a difference just since this all started. Last week he got Class Celebrity and he’s never got that before.” Josie, parent of child at Barton Hill Primary School Breakfast Club (while her son ate his third helping!)
“I always say to parents now: just get them dressed and here, and we’ll do the rest. When we started we had 100 pupils on our persistent absence list. Now, we only have about 14. Because of encouraging them to Breakfast Club, our attendance has increased.” Julie Vincent, Evergreen School Breakfast Club coordinator
