Greenwich is calling the scheme Holiday Meals but for some of the borough’s residents, the free food on offer to school children means something very different: a lifeline, as the cost-of-living crisis hits hard.
The Holiday Meals campaign, commissioned by the Greenwich Co-operative Development Agency (GCDA), aims to prevent child hunger.
Greenwich councillor Matt Morrow said that it was a response to the current living climate. “With the cost of living crisis looming for many families, the Royal Borough of Greenwich, is committed to providing food for young people to help families who may be struggling,” he said.
The Holiday Meals scheme, which will be available well into next year, can be accessed across the borough. There are drop-in sessions at different sites and libraries will also offer free activities to children when they visit.
The Childhood Trust, a children’s charity, says that roughly half-a-million children in London are at risk of malnutrition because of food insecurity. There are links between poor mental health and poverty according to researchers at the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH). A review from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation also found that poverty and deprivation are key factors in children’s social and behavioural development.
Sociologist Peter Townsend has said child poverty means that families lack the resources to give their children the type of diet and the chance to participate in activities that they otherwise might. According to the Trussell Trust, food poverty is a crisis brought on by a dramatic rise in the cost of living, with food bank dependency surging to a 200% increase in the last five years. There has been a resulting strain on food banks.
The UK is one of the richest countries in the world by gross domestic product, according to the International Monetary Fund. But the British capital has the highest recorded child poverty rate in England, according to government data and it is increasing.
Click here to check the location of Holiday Meals: https://www.royalgreenwich.gov.uk/info/200234/children_young_people_and_families/2108/holiday_meals_for_kids
