Methods of Supplying Free Meals in School Holidays

[LastGoldenDaysOfSummer]

I'm hopeful that this will come to pass nationwide.

Reading the press there are several different ways this has been done. The majority seem to do it by way of holiday clubs but some authorities issue vouchers. I've read that packed lunches were delivered to children's own homes as well.

Our local cafes are coming up trumps but this isn't a permanent solution.

Some schools are reluctant to have their building used for security reasons. Plus maintenance work is usually carried out in the school holidays, so that might be an issue. Some lunchtime workers say they don't want to work holidays.

I'm interested in how people think this would work. I think a nationwide strategy would be better than ad hoc local solutions because some councils are not happy with the idea at all.

Personally,I think food vouchers for a designated supermarket/food store (chosen by the family). With linked ID if there worried they are being sold on. Sort of like a prepay bank card.

Prepay cards that can be used like normal money in any shop are probably the best way to go.

You can get quite a lot of food for £15, certainly far more than 5 lunches for a child, so would be the most help to someone on a low income.

The problem with providing food in a designated place is that people have to get there and the cost of travel could be more than the cost of food received.

I like the idea of prepay cards or vouchers. I think a central venue would create too many problems, especially if it's a holiday club and some DCs are paying.

Lunch clubs seem the best to me, as alternatives always have the possibility not to reach the intended children. Prepay cards I can see being used for things other than food, and lead to abuse of retail staff if they refuse to accept them.

what about rural children? how will they access such clubs? school buses stop running in the hols and parents may have no transport if they are even home

Another problem with lunch clubs... Would a secondary age child/teenager voluntarily attend something like that? It's not just little kids.
Also no good if the children are in childcare over the holidays.

supermarket vouchers are the best.
that allows parents to buy what they need, and to accommodate the needs of kids.

Because poor kids have likes and dislikes and favourite foods too!

actually, not even rural kids......plenty of kids live in local villages on edges of towns etc....how will they get to the collection points?

i think shop vouchers are the way forward so its accessible to all

not even supermarket......some villages don't even have a tesco extra....just a smaller shop

The best method would be to keep lobbying the government to get this sorted properly on a national scale. A direct payment to those families would surely be the best way, as they can use the money directly no matter where they shop.

Perhaps our leaders could provide some kind of benefit to the parents, say £21 per week for the first child, maybe £14 or so for subsequent children. It might work.

I think it should be provided as part of the benefit package, then it can be spent in any shop and is most flexible for parents to use. There will always be a small minority who selfishly don’t use it for the child, but it would help most. The selfish are few and far between, and that’s a whole separate point.

I think benefits should be higher so there isnt a special lunch thing to be honest. All this vouchers, charity group stiff seems difficult if you dont live near that sipermarket or want the local WI knocking with a sandwich.

Increase child tax credit/ benefit payments during holidays is the best solution. Allows parents the flexibility to choose where or when to shop.

All this talk of parents who use benefits for drink and drugs are a red herring. I’d love to see real stats of these type of parents. I’d argue that they’d be in the minority and the vast majority on the bread line are actually concerned about feeding their dc rather than getting pissed or whatever.

why do people in receipt of benefits need more though? aren't they means tested? if income goes up or down don't they adjust accordingly?

Because finding the money for lunches, when usually those are provided, can tip a family into poverty.

why do people in receipt of benefits need more though?

Can you live on £94 per week?

There was a pretty damning report by the UN in 2019 which stated the current benefit system pushed people into debt and forced thousands more into unnecessary hardship. The report recommended that the gov must boost the level of support offered to claimants to a level that meets the cost of living.

The benefit system was a shit show long before covid due to austerity. It’s only now that people who’d otherwise never have claimed benefits will understand that it’s not all flat screen TVs and holidays to Magaluf.

Having come from a country where the West was touted as a place to aspire to, it makes me so cross that the UK would allow children to go hungry, it’s absolutely appalling. The foodbank connected to my local church, has had a 300% increase in its use. People are queuing out of the door and onto the street twice a week to get a bag of food. And this isn’t some poor town in the north, this is commuter belt within 40 minutes of central London.

@SweetPetrichor

It is already part of the benefit package, you get extra money per child. The problem is that for some people the benefits are less than the essential living costs (eg in high rent areas and where benefits are capped) and unfortunately other parents don't budget well or make wise choices. In both cases there's insufficient food for kids.