Free school meals and summer holidays

[McNewPants2013]

I was thinking about this today.

I will have an extra £10 per week dude to not paying for school meals, but if people are entitled to FSM I can see many families struggling to provide these extra meals at home.

Do you think that school canteens should open or the parents get extra money to cover the shortfall.

Indeed Chottie..50 years in and we are still discussing children and hunger.

I work and pay 'my taxes' but i would happily pay a little more tax if it meant families did not have to go without food (and electric/gas).

For the people saying they used to be on benefits and were able to feed their children without the FSM... i guess that was before all the recent benefit cuts?

It makes me so sad and upset to know what this Government is doing to families that already don't have a pot to piss in, in fact it makes me bloody angry!

We broke up yesterday. I work in one of the poorest council wards in the country and not all the pupils looked delighted. I really worry about some of our FSM pupils who also attend our 'Breakfast Club'. The club is funded by the staff and we made sure each of the pupils went home with a stockpile of cereal etc but it won't last 6 weeks. For some of these pupils the holidays are just misery. There needs to be some provision for these pupils during the break. We run summer school and a lot of them signed up but it is only two weeks.

I agree that children who are going hungry need to be fed, regardless of the reason they are hungry, but other people can only do so much. For example, what happens to the child whose parents are still in bed at 12:00 so they can't get to the school for their lunch? Or the child whose parents just don't care enough to take them? What about the teenager who's too embarrassed to be seen going in to school for their free meal in the holidays? Should children get a free lunch at the weekend? Should staff take them one round when they're off sick? What about breakfast and tea? Should schools provide those too? ( actually many schools provide breakfast to the most needy, but it's at their own expense, or sometimes even the teacher's expense).

I'm not sure what the answer is tbh.

"Actually yes I will walk away - we all have our own issues in this life, some of ua dont have time or energy to be worrying about other people"

Blimey. That's not very Big Society, is it?

Shiny Dave will be disappointed.

surely people can take this into account and budget for it? they do announce term dates a good deal in advance.

shoulda read the thread eek

In my experience the hungriest children I've seen are kids whose parents are working and have been squeezed by cuts/changes to tax credits and a rise in the cost of living. Families who are on the cusp of FSM entitlement.

I think we should give FSM to more families, and yes the impact of the 6 week break is an issue.

It's a disgrace that in 2013 children are going hungry and are malnourished. Some of the posters on this thread would be out of place working in a Victorian poorhouse.

Wouldn't be out of place, obvs ;)

I was on FSM as a child. My dad was ill and then died, my mum had no money. She used to make sure we were well fed but didn't eat herself (100 ways to cook mince she calls it).

Some people on this thread have no fucking clue. 'Budget properly', 'FSM are a bonus'. What a joke.

Have a look at this blog by a single mum on benefits who manages to make nutritious, varied meals on a very tight budget. She has even managed to get a book deal because of her very low cost recipes;

agirlcalledjack.com/

I think there should be a scheme to provide meals for children in the holidays. Children should not have to be hungry or, as others have said be 'punished' for lack of money.

However, if parents are wilfully neglecting children then those parents should be punished-maybe by not being given ready cash but rather food and clothing vouchers for a period and supervision, a little along the lines of probation.

if those vouchers are then found to have been sold, then they have proved that they are not fit to have care of children and yes, the children should be taken away. The shop keeper who is taking the vouchers for things that they are not intended for should be prosecuted and, ideally, be given a custodial sentence.

In the case of parents who are neglectful because they know no better, then they should be treated gently but the bottom line is the child's welfare and if they cannot look after that child, then action need s to be taken.

A child who is hungry all the time is the bottom line and I would be surprised if the child's stomach could distinguish that it is hungry because their parent is inadequate, has sen or is cheating their child by spending money on non-essentials.

There may not be enough resources to deal with it at the moment but there would be no harm in establishing the principle.

However, yes, I think that until this issue is addressed, there should be some form of fsm in the holidays.

no, but the parents could use a food bank.

almeci - oh thats ok then becuase food banks are an endless resource of food!

I think it is all very well banging on about people being able to budget and do brilliant things with a packet of lentils. That woman "agirlcalledjack" does amazingly well but she is going to be very much in a minority. Well maybe not, maybe a fair amount of single parents, parents with financial difficulties will have the nouse to budget and produce low cost, nutritious food for their families. The sad truth is that many people are, without being nasty, just not that bright and would actually struggle with anything past putting some chicken nuggets in the oven. This is not their fault, they may have learning difficulties, be uneduated due to a difficult upbringing themselves. Some people may well be feckless and spend more money on booze and drugs - but you don't have a choice over what family you are born into. Very soon there will be a baby born into wealth beyond our imagination, this child will receive the best of everything and have every door held wide open for them, simply because of who they were given birth to by. There are children who are born into poverty every day and actually it doesn't matter if their parents are trying their best but can't make ends meet or their parents are feckless and unable to manage - the outcome is the same, the cycle of poverty will continue.

I personally don't know how Cameron sleeps at night, knowing that in of of the richest countries in the world, there are children who are not receiving adequate food.

I'm not sure you can blame Cameron for it LEM. People on benefits do receive enough for the basics* and my personal opinion is that those who can't or won't feed their children need to be dealt with in the same manner as any other neglectful child abuser.

*When I was on IS (which was up until very recently) we received £200 approx per week plus full rent and council tax for one adult and two children. Essential utilities (gas/water/electric) averaged £30 a week over the year. This left £170 a week for phone bills, food and clothing. These are not starvation levels and if parents are unable to feed their children on this kind of money then there are clearly other issues that need tackling.

i'm not sure about having to be recommended by a professional. My friend manages a food bank and they get a mixture of people.

I still think some of the problems can be apportioned to stupid selfish parents who maybe shouldn't have had children and bad financial planning but I know that is not the dc's fault.

as someone said upthread some councils offer vouchers over the holidays which is reasonable.

So bogeyface, you reported saucyjack early for a "vile post" and yet you're happily throwing insults and personal attacks yourself. Double standards much?

The simple way of avoiding a hungry child is not to have them unless you can afford them. why should tax payers do so, why aren't these people going to their parents/grandparents, brothers or sisters for help if they can't feed their kids for the 6 weeks?

Saucy, those figures are academic now for many families as the HB cap etc. has since come in.

I think we also need to remember that FSM and food banks are not synonymous with 'benefits' and are available to working parents below a certain income. As are benefits.

I think the vast majority of people can manage without FSM for the Summer. But I think, for the sake of those who can't, it's an important thing to be aware of and that it is the shared responsibility of everyone to do something about it.

In the summer holidays the church I go to takes a minibus of packed lunches we make and bag up (ham or cheese sandwich, piece of fruit, cereal bar, packet of crisps) to the estate near us and gives them out to local children.

To be honest the response has been mixed. Some people think it's patronising ('we can feed our own kids thank you very much' 'we don't need sandwiches from Bible bashers' etc) and others hang around pointing out children and telling us 'that one doesn't need a lunch, she's having you on' and stuff like that. It's also not as good as a hot meal. But, on balance, I think it's worth doing; there are undoubtedly some children there who won't get lunch otherwise.