Earlier this week, the last schools in England which have been holding out for the summer holidays will finally come to the end of the summer term, my wife's among them.This will not be welcome news for some parents, not just because they now have to look after their children instead of dropping them off at school, but because their children will not have their school meals.
Many families are in receipt of free school meals for their children, and for some children, the breakfast or lunch their children get may be their only cooked meal of the day.
This summer, a record number of families will find themselves struggling to feed themselves.
Food banks are being used in record numbers, driven up by austerity which has led to freezes in pay at the same time as rising costs, growing number of zero-hours contracts which reduce the unemployment rate but don't guarantee high levels of pay, and changes to the benefit system leading to delays.
Some schools are staying open partially in order to continue to provide some sort of meal. This is fairly shameful that millions of children are living in poverty.
Find your nearest Food Bank to support here.
If you have a chance, drop a few tins and other items into the food bank collection point which is likely to be in your local supermarket if you can...
Image: Alan Parkinson, shared under CC license.
Comments