Free School Meals

[knobblykneesandturnedouttoes]

Just had a bit of a random thought this morning. With children about to start their summer holidays I was thinking I better stock up the fridge since my huge man sized Son will be in the house for lunch as well as breakfast and dinner.

Then my mind turned to low income families (I struggle with bills etc myself so I'm low income too, but always manage to cover essentials luckily) and I wondered if people who are entitled to free school meals for their kids really ought to get extra child benefit or something else to cover the extra meal they need to provide.

I'm talking about those who get FSM because theyre on income support or jobseekers.

I've recently started receiving income support myself but I'm good at budgeting and have a small amount of savings so I'm not worried about it myself, but I know there are families out there who will really struggle to provide the extra meal, especially those with more than one or two children.

[CauliflowerSqueeze]

I agree. I worry about those kids - many go hungry over the summer. Plus they tend to be more active outside and need more energy. If there was a "meals for kids" aisle at the supermarket I would happily drop in loaves of bread and ham / cheese etc. Maybe I should invent that.

[knobblykneesandturnedouttoes]

Very good idea

[knobblykneesandturnedouttoes]

Or maybe those who are struggling could apply for food vouchers to the amount of school meals for the duration of the summer

[noblegiraffe]

Our supermarket food bank collection point has been asking for summer holiday food for the last month or so. Stuff like peanut butter for easy sandwiches, pot noodles and pasta things that just need boiling water added that older kids could make.

It's depressing that it's needed, but also good that people are thinking about these children.

[CWG17]

Yes, this time of year is really hard on families who struggle for food. I already have a regular cash donation for the local food bank but will try to remember to drop something in the box if I go into the supermarket over the next month.

[EdithWeston]

You can get Food Bank referrals for school holidays (there's always a spike in demand)

You can donate in cash, or via drop off points (in supermarkets and elsewhere) but do check what your food bank actually wants (many post lists of current 'most needed' online). Don't donate fresh produce (including bread) as they prefer to use cash donations to buy the fresh produce they need at the time they need it.

And if you use Ocado, think about adding a 'You Give We Give ' voucher to your trolley. For every voucher (available £2:50, £5 and £10) Ocado give double the value to the foodbank (which places the order of what they want - they're not just given the hard-to-shift)

[knobblykneesandturnedouttoes]

This is great information, I didn't realise there were schemes in place to help people cover the extra expense. I hope not too many go without. I've never seen collection areas for food banks in the supermarket, but probably just haven't noticed. I will keep an eye out and try to make a contribution.

[Witchend]

I work with someone who volunteers in a sort of food bank (they do more than just food including furniture etc). She says the summer holidays are the hardest time for them because parents who are used to the children having free school meals suddenly have to feed them 3 meals a day.
Plus a lot of churches collect the food etc. at harvest festival. They have a glut in October/November, but are struggling at this time of year because people who might donate think "Oh I'll give that at harvest" etc.

Please, please if you see a box in the supermarket or know of a local foodbank donate at this time.

[FreezerBird]

Yes, there's definitely a spike in demand over the summer at the food bank.

I volunteer at a food bank run by a church, and over the summer the church also does a 'lunch club' for local families. Completely free, and the whole family can come for a hot meal at lunch time mon-fri throughout the summer holidays. Makes it much easier as if you have cereal and sandwich-y stuff in you can manage if that one meal is then provided. Unlike the food bank, you don't have to show you're in need - anyone can go, and the children don't have to qualify for FSM.

There's so much extra stuff for money to go on in the holidays - so if a family has a choice between food or doing something fun with the kids once or twice, they can go to the lunch club and have money left to treat the kids. I think that's fab - it's about more than just feeding people.

I think there are various organisations which try to address this. The Trussell Trust do I think (the food bank I work at isn't a TT one) and in some places school canteens stay open over the summer for children who would get FSM in term time - I'm not sure where the funding for that comes from.

[EdithWeston]

I've just seen a piece on this on BBC Breakfasr.

So I thought I'd post to bump the thread back into active.