KICKING FOOD POVERTY INTO TOUCH

BBC chef Tom Kerridge teams up with footballer Marcus Rash ford to# End child food poverty

Showing their commitment to the welfare of children across Britain, Tom Kerridge and Premier League footballer Marcus Rashford have joined forces to ensure that no child should go to bed hungry. The BBC Good Food contributor and Manchester United striker are behind Full Time, an initiative backing the #Endchildfoodpoverty campaign that Marcus launched in September 2020 in partnership with his Child Poverty Taskforce.

The stars want to shine a light on the fact that too many kids go to bed with an empty stomach: 4.2 million in the UK – that’s 30% of children, with demand for food bank services having increased by 121%.

The project aims to equip families with the skills to get the most out of Healthy Start vouchers which, from April, increased to £4.25 (from £3.10) per week for children under the age of four. And Marcus hopes that ‘Full Time: Get Cooking with Marcus & Tom’ will encourage the adults to enjoy an hour each week making meals with their kids.

Marcus says, ‘This project is for every child so I really hope parents and carers will benefit from spending time together in the kitchen when family activity is restricted due to finances.’

Tom has created 52 easy recipes as part of the year-long programme. They’re available in various forms from selected supermarkets every Sunday morning. Each recipe will also feature a QR code linking to the Full Time Instagram page where users can access tutorial videos. Parents are encouraged to try the recipes and share their results via Instagram using the hashtag #fulltimemeals.

Tom adds, ‘Marcus and I are proud to be working together to spread the message of how easy cooking can be. You don’t need lots of equipment – you can still make great tasting, fun and filling food. If you can engage with food from the start, you can develop your own collection of recipes, and enjoy cooking together.’