Campaigner hits out after free fruit fiasco

A COMMUNITY campaigner fighting to get free fruit back in city schools has hit out at the council after it provided free fruit to its employees at a conference.

The event at the City Chambers involved 78 HR staff and was being held for the first time in 10 years to talk about the roll- out of the council’s health and well- being strategy which is facilitated and promoted by the HR team.

Fruit bowls were made available to staff before being placed at the exit for them to pick up on their way out to ensure there was no food waste.

Documents show the amount spent on fruit cost Glasgow City Council £ 120 while £ 500 was spent on tea and coffee.

But Garrett Ramsay, who volunteers at Help for the Homeless, says the amount spent on the fruit that day makes him angry after the council’s area partnership cut funding which allowed him to introduce free fruit into local primary schools.

The initiative, which started in Drumchapel before being spread throughout the city, helped young people access fruit prior to starting lessons and encouraged them to eat one of their five- a- day.

But in August, Mr Ramsay was informed that funding for the project would not be made available in the coming school year.

He said: “The problem is when you have people in a room who earn more than £ 60,000 and you are giving them out fruit and talking about healthy living, but less than half a mile away you have a school full of children who overnight had that funding taken away from them.

“I am distraught to hear about this because I can’t help everybody. What I loved about this project, and I hope it comes back, is that there is no distinction regardless of your background.

“If HR is having a meeting about healthy living, have it in a school where kids don’t have the same healthy living options, and look at what the council can do to make that better.”

Drumchapel and Anniesland councillor Paul Carey has questioned whether the money would have been better spent.

He added: “I find it unbelievable that 78 HR officers whose combined wages run into millions of pounds can have a seminar or training day in the City Chambers, be advised about healthy eating and given free fruit.

“At the time a primary school in my ward had to stop giving out free fruit in the morning to children because there was not enough funding to continue it.

“Given the fact that we are in a cost- of- living crisis, would it not be better for the council to spend this money on our children?”

The event was held last September, and it is understood the fruit bowls were included as a requirement for the health and well- being element of the event.

The local authority says the free school fruit was a specific pilot that came to an end a couple of years ago and pupils have access to fruit as part of their free school meals in primary schools.

A council spokesperson said: “This was a planning meeting for the council family’s HR community.

“The Health and Well- being Strategy is designed to reduce sickness absence in the council by encouraging staff to focus on their physical and mental health.

“It has been rolled out to staff in Neighbourhoods and Regeneration Services and other services and is having an impact on absence levels.

“Staff Health and Well- being Roadshows give staff practical advice on how to stay healthy which includes providing fruit alongside advice on mental health and financial wellbeing.”