Free school meals extended over the holiday- are they needed?

[GotAnyGrapes17]

Have been chatting about this with various people during the day. Opinions go from "if you can't afford a couple of quid a week to feed your kids something is wrong" to people feeling this is a hugely essential scheme.

I just wondered if anyone who is entitled for FSM genuinely struggles during school holidays with out them.

No judgment here, my child use to be entitled to free school meals, however I didn't miss them during the school holidays....I am just interested to hear other views.

I have been raised by a father whose mother received 'housekeeping' from his father, she had to eke it out to feed and clothe their children. My Dad always said how little she ate herself to ensure they were all fed, however, my Dad was over 6ft tall at 14, and was still always hungry, went to bed distracted through hunger, he said it was just one day after another of misery. As a result we have always been fed, done without a few things, but always nourished, he swore we would never know that feeling, Marcus Rashford has also known that feeling, and it is admirable that he has used his fame in such an outstanding good way. We have all stood outside the school gates, seen the families that seem to have plenty of fags, latest phones etc, but children that are a bit grubby, obviously wearing the same clothes all week and have fsm, however there are 2 types of parents, the ones who are selfish and don't care that their children are impoverished, and others struggling to keep their heads above water. It is easy to say you want to help one set of parents above another, however, let's not be a nation of tossers here, hungry children are hungry children, they don't have a choice, feed our future and be grateful it's not you and your family going hungry!

I would think like any scheme some really rely on it and others can manage without.

If you earn £1 under the cut off you'll be better placed than someone who has no income.

I suggested a good scheme would be to actually provide families weekly ingredients with cost of items and recipes to follow. (Not quite the MN chicken that would feed the whole family of 5 for the entire 6 weeks )

I know when I was on poverty line £15 would t have helped me know better ways of cooking on the cheap. Better for me was knowing things like adding lentils and grated carrot to mince. How to reduce tinned tomatoes down.

Again lots of families in poverty have these skills but many families don't.

And £15 of ingredients bought wholesale would go further for families than £15 they have to spend locally in perhaps the coop where it doesn't go far at all.

Child poverty is a massive problem in the U.K.
We currently have foster children staying with us. Their situation was dreadful and not because their mother is a feckless big TV buyer.

I have been that child going to bed hungry. Yes the free school meals vouchers are needed. I don't think you can possibly understand how it feels to be a child crying yourself to sleep hungry and have no power to change things. I don't want children today going through that.

We've been told ours will stop over the summer holidays (Scotland). DD is in primary 2 so is entitled to FSM, kids are for the first 3 years regardless of circumstances. We'll be fine without them but locally there's an initiative which feeds kids who get FSM lunch during school holidays so I imagine this will kick in as a takeaway service. It did over the Easter fortnight

Most kids aren,t in foster care due to poverty. Abuse, neglect, mental health issues, illness, substance misue more often then not

It’s means tested so this is for families struggling financially. I think it’s brilliant that the FSM will be available over the summer. It takes a bit of pressure off parents.

Think about why some families struggle and need FSM. Being ‘on benefits not working’ is a myth. You can’t just decide not to work and get money. That is a lie. It’s single parents with a limited income, parents on low wages or 0hour contracts, families on disability benefits or carers allowance. People who work and get tax credit or universal credit. Minimum wage in this country is awful. 0 hour contracts are a scandal.

And £3 a day is more than what schools meals are. So it's allowing for lack of wholesale bulk buying.

I think the ones who will get it are the ones who currently get free school meals so if you have been effected by furlough you may not get free school meals unitl September when it is reassessed and one reapplies.

Good grief!

There’s an awful lot of sanctimonious, ignorant and frankly cruel people posting on this thread!

Do you know what makes the difference between a household that can afford to weather an unexpected crisis like covid and one that can’t?!

LUCK! That is all pure luck!

From cradle to grave much of what affects our circumstances is luck!

People who had babies 4/5 years ago couldn’t possibly have predicted this crisis, hell they couldn’t even have predicted Brexit and the shitty govt we currently have!

The children certainly couldn’t have!

The vile, acid comments directed towards the poorest and least able to advocate for themselves in society is shameful and shocking!

Particularly the post from a supposed nurse who should not only be a naturally compassionate and empathic person but who PROFESSIONALLY should be more aware than most about the variety of bad luck that can befall a family out of the clear blue fucking yonder!!

If you really are a nurse I genuinely think you’re in the wrong job! Said as an ex nurse myself!

Prices have already risen, they will likely rise a great deal again in the new year due to the disaster that is a badly mishandled Brexit shit show.

Multibuy and other offers have all but vanished.

I am disabled myself and raised a child whilst in receipt of benefits (inc when working full time as wages in this country are SHAMEFULLY low) and I can assure you it is no fucking picnic!! Certainly in the first years after splitting from ex when any cm was still deducted from benefits (even if you didn’t receive it!) there were many times I went without in order to ensure dd didn’t. Not just food either, winter clothes and shoes, walking for many miles to avoid paying for transport... and that was only 12-14 years ago so hardly the depths of the hardships of the 80’s

£15 May seem a lot to feed eg a slight 5 year old its sod all to feed a strapping 16 year old boy!!

Teenagers need more calories than adults, I had a slight girl to feed and it was still a challenge!

I would much rather it was available to some who don’t need it than NOT available to ANY who DO.

As for “well these well paid footballers should donate”

1 they are and have been AND fundraising

2 it’s not actually their responsibility! If wages were actual living wage levels and if the country was being run a HELL of a lot better the number of families needing such help would be much smaller!

This govt have repeatedly and consistently punished the poor, sick, disabled and disadvantaged and frankly covid just means this has become more bloody obvious to those who were previously unaware!

I wonder if any of our wealthier MP's or business people have. I highly doubt any Tory mps have! Even those who are HUGELY independently wealthy like Johnson rarely do anything philanthropic (unless there’s something in it for them!)

I hope that this is a permanent change and not just a one off due to Corona unfortunately not only is this highly unlikely, if anything under the current govt what’s highly likely to happen - based on previous actions and known ideology - is that welfare funding is extremely likely to be the first thing cut to pay for Coronavirus expense

I’m absolutely DREADING the next budget as it’s very likely it’s benefits that will be hit hardest.

if the govt can afford to give tax breaks to the super rich and massive corporations they can certainly find the money to keep kids from starving for a few weeks exactly! The notion that the money isn’t there is bollocks! It’s there for tax breaks for the already v wealthy, it’s there to justify tax avoidance, its there for mps expenses and unnecessary 2nd homes etc, it’s there for Brexit, its there for outdated useless nuclear weaponry and the
Armed forces maintenance of them, it’s there for umpteen general elections, it’s there to employ lying, cheating disability assessors sub contracted by the dwp, it’s there for useless think tanks and spads and spin drs!

hard times can happen to anyone precisely!

Life can turn on you!

I hold 2 degrees, when I had dd I was married, working in a well paid job as was then dh, had secure housing, was healthy and fit...

5 years later I was divorced (his infidelity), unemployed, in social housing, struggling to come to terms with being disabled as a result of a car accident which wasn’t my fault.

You NEVER know what’s around the corner!

And there’s only so much - especially if you’re on a low income - that you can do to safeguard against possible future events, nobody can predict everything.

Of course they are needed.
My SD is a new teacher this year and us subbing several of the dc in the school; the teachers put in to a fund to support the hungry but not eligible children. I can't imagine how tough it is for all those kids during the long hols.
OP, the reason only one or two people on your thread have said it helps them is that the people it helps most aren't on Mumsnet, not because it isn't needed.

I'm a single mum to 3 boys who qualify for free school meals. I work on the frontline and managed to catch the dreaded covid and subsequently suffered complications (heart and respiratory) I have been off work for 6 weeks. Back and forth to the hospital and GP and have been signed off for a further 4 weeks to be reassessed. As such I haven't had the benefit of furlough, just ssp. I find this hugely reassuring. I have only claimed the weeks vouchers twice as when not required I refuse to take advantage. but as my savings dwindle knowing the help is there should I need it is wonderful and one less thing to worry about quite so much.

According to the Tories the UK doesn’t need foodbanks!

@TatianaTitsling - thank you, I will look at that.
yes my child gets DLA which I use for adaptations / special equip etc

I would be happy for my ds to go in for his school lunch.
But it is a 19mile trip each way, on a public bus (very rural)
I have 1 Co-Op shop in my village.
And the FSM vouchers cannot be used in the Co-op.
My nearest Supermarket is also 19miles away. I go to Aldi - it's cheap.

When I was at secondary school child I had a best friend, Julie. Her father was a farm labourer. Hard work, long hours and poor pay. Julie had 3 brothers, 2 of whom were 'poorly' so her Mother took in ironing but couldn't work outside the house as well. My parents were also poor (due to my Dad developing a heart condition) but Dad still worked and Mum had 2 cleaning jobs and collected football pools money / did piece work at home too. My brother and I both had casual Saturday jobs from age 13. I don't know if we were just above the cut off for FSM or my Mum was 'too proud' to claim it?
Julie and I bonded because neither of us had proper shoes (think canvas plimsolls in summer, wellies in winter). We both knew that when the money ran out in the electric meter you went to bed by candlelight. No holidays / school trips. I remember my Dad plumbing in an inside loo (and I was born in 1970, so not quite the dark ages!)
Julie got 'free school dinners' via a Token. I remember the bullying and the shame for her. Her Father was ashamed that 'everyone knew he was too poor to feed his kids'. He hung himself. Clearly the poor man was Depressed. It was very hard for Julie's Mum afterwards.
My children actually didn't know we qualified for FSM until very recently. School were very discreet. It is a 'sink' Academy in a rough area and a good % are on FSM but the bullying is still something else.
Ds says kids whose parents are 'dole-ys' get beaten up.
I wonder where these kids get that attitude from?
There but for the grace of God go any of us.
One disabled kid, One job loss, One bout of ill health.
Any of us.
It shouldn't be a race to the bottom.
A nurse shouldn't have to feel upset she is working for 'not much more than someone on benefits'. A person who is a Carer should have a way forward / some security. We should ALL be able to live with decency. But for those who can't temporarily, or longer term, 'feckless' or just damned unlucky, it shouldn't be the kids who suffer.

I’m still confused as to why all kids in reception and year 1 get free school meals whether they are rich or poor. This doesn’t make sense to me and I would take that from those that don’t need it and ensure that those that do, always get it

@BertNErnie some schools are only offering sandwiches for lunch, my child’s school for example!

The amount of families being pushed into poverty right now is huge, as is the amount of social services referrals. If this money gets some food into the stomachs of any children who would otherwise be hungry it's worth it 100%. And I say that as someone who doesn't have any dc.

I can't believe anyone would begrudge this.

You only need to look at foodbank statistics to see that this is really needed

www.theguardian.com/society/2020/may/01/uk-food-banks-face-record-demand-in-coronavirus-crisis
'the Independent Food Aid Network (Ifan), which said its food banks recorded a 59% increase in demand for emergency food support between February and March – 17 times higher than the same period a year ago'

My school the staff and children have been donating weekly to a food collection.
We've provided dry goods, toiletries and lots of nappies and sanitary protection. Etc.

A family from the school have arranged these parcels and delivering them weekly.

I've been in tears reading the thank you letters from families.

There but goes the grace of god. Tomorrow that could be any of us.

Every year in the summer dds best friend comes to us at lunch time. It wasn't long before I realised she was only coming to share dds sandwiches. I'm poor and dd is fsm but I can afford lunch for her and her mate.

This year however I'm not just poor. I'm hand to mouth. And the £19.50 paid to me to feed dd is used as 70% of the family food shop- for ALL meals . If her friend were allowed to come, I'm not sure I could stretch it. It's 3 40p loaves , 1 bag of 40p carrots and 5 tins of chickpeas for "hummus" that's serving for lunches all week right now.

I was screwed by a zero hour contract that I knew would kill me but had no choice but to take. The delay in the increase of my tax credits to offset it put me in debt.

I'm sure many won't need it. I usually wouldn't. But it's strange times we're living in

My town have provided free school lunches for years during the summer holidays they do cold lunches pick up.points ,I think they should probably extend personally to others on a,low income not entitled to FSM,lots of working people are just over the threshold but not entitled to this help ,I'm not getting into a benefit debate but lots of people who are working also claim tax credits and sometimes the difference disposable income is minimal.

@SunbathingDragon
Due to my DC being in YR we could still have received a voucher for free meals during lockdown if we had chosen to do so but we didn’t because we didn’t need to. the vouchers were not for universal infant meals.

@waitingforadulthood

I truly hope your circumstances change for the better in your future. You deserve it.

There’s a huge amount of school holiday hunger, i just hope this continues for every school holiday from now on. I was involved a few years ago with this issue and getting traction was impossible, just so pleased someone with the media following has been able to influence this change. Nothing Marcus Rashford will do on a football field will be as important as this

This thread has made me feel incredibly sad that we live in a society where people genuinely have a problem with children receiving a free meal. Only families who are entitled to FSM will get this, not all key stage one children. As someone pointed out there has been a huge rise in the use of food banks in recent years, and that was before lockdown. People have lost their jobs and the cost of food has definitely gone up.

I can’t understand the mentality of wanting a child to go hungry, some families are really struggling and if we can help them we should. I don’t understand the mentality of wanting to make life even harder for those already struggling and suggesting children go without food.