School staff buy food for hungry kids

Assistants on £12k help out after Tory cuts

SCHOOL staff regularly take food to schools to feed hungry children, a survey reveals.

More than half of those polled by the GMB union – mainly teaching assistants on £12,000 a year – also supply items including tampons, pens, pencils, books, toilet paper and toys.

And nearly one in 10 give food to youngsters who would not get to eat otherwise.

One staff member said: “I often purchase sandwiches and biscuits for pupils who haven’t had any breakfast or lunch – otherwise they go without.”

Another said: “Without the extra things that I buy with my own money, the children would not have the healthy food options.”

Some 78% said their school had made “significant financial cutbacks” as Tory austerity bites.

One staff member in a deprived area reported regularly taking in breakfast cereal.

Another said: “The budget is extremely tight and the kitchen will only prepare a certain amount of food. If the children drop their lunch, they often do not get another one.”

The union said it was a scandal.

National officer Karen Leonard said: “Hungry children cannot learn. Conservative cuts are endangering the future of a generation of young people.”

I often buy sandwiches & biscuits for pupils who haven’t had lunch

SCHOOL WORKER POLLED BY GMB UNION OVER CUTS