It’s a bid to ensure no child goes hungry during the holidays

Opinion is mixed about Greenwich Council’s offer of a free holiday club and free meals for children throughout the holiday season.

Free meals are available at: the Woolwich Centre, Thamesmead Library, Plumstead Centre and Eltham Centre. The service runs from Monday, December 20 until Friday, December 31. Lunches are served from 12 noon to 1 pm, except for Christmas Eve, when the service runs from 11.30 am. Meals are delivered by Greenwich Co-operative Development Agency to ensure that children of all ages have access to nutritious food.

Residents are enthused about the council’s efforts to help. Nathan Kelly, 18, who was taking his little sister to the Plumstead Centre, said: “The scheme has helped to put food in my little sister’s mouth. I’m a lone guardian and especially in winter it’s hard to make ends meet and we need a lot of support, so these free meals help.”

He added that the holiday period is when he has less opportunity to work as he is a lone guardian. “Sometimes it’s just not possible to find someone else to look after [his little sister]…I’m the only one providing for us.”

Parents and guardians can also book free places at Royal Greenwich Together Food and Fun, which runs during the festive season and gives children aged between six and 14 the chance to engage in different activities.

One parent, who asked to remain anonymous, said it was “a start” but the council should look to providing more permanent help. “Our kids need to eat, so more things like this would be amazing, year-round support. I’d like to see them encouraging more local involvement, more food donations, donations of any sort.”

Similar schemes exist for the summer holidays as well.

Greenwich, one of England’s most deprived boroughs, has seen some improvement in recent years. By its own account, “The borough has had a marked improvement…moving from 173 in 2015 to 191 in 2019 (out of 315).” The improvement is attributed to schemes like this.

However, the council notes that the improved ranking”does not necessarily indicate that absolute levels of deprivation in the borough have reduced.”