Drive to stamp out kids’ holiday hunger
Over 50,000 children at risk of food poverty
CENTRAL England Co-op is joining forces with food bank partners across Leicestershire to tackle the issue of holiday hunger for children this summer.
The Summer Food Bank Appeal will run for three months from June to August and customers are being asked to drop off one or more items – ranging from food to toiletries – to help youngsters in need across the area.
After successful campaigns at Christmas and Easter collected over 85,000 items for food banks, Central England Co-op asked charities what was the biggest issued they faced during the summer months.
Over 85 per cent of food banks working with the Co-op said the same thing – a rise in demand from families who see the safety net of free school meals removed during the summer holidays.
This often leaves people trying to stretch their budgets in order to eat and in some cases going with- out proper food during the holidays.
In Leicestershire, figures from End Child Poverty revealed that 50,772 children were at risk of falling into holiday hunger during 2018.
As a result Central England Co-op has launched its summer campaign to collect extra donations to try and tackle the rising problem by giving foodbanks an extra boost.
The items will then be used to create either bigger food parcels for families with children or to provide special packed lunches for projects that tackle holiday hunger during the summertime.
Martyn Cheatle, Central England Co-operative Chief Executive, said: “We are proud to be able to support our food banks all year round and in the past few months have helped collect over 85,000 items to help people in need.
“We wanted to ensure that this great support continued and, after speaking to our food bank partners, knew that helping to tackle holiday hunger was the right thing to do.
“This summer we are appealing to our customers and members to support our campaign and help youngsters in need and their families so they don’t have to go without during the holidays.
“All we are asking is that people drop off one or more items into our food banks this summer and help make a real differ- ence.”
Items that can be donated include shopping basket staples from tea, sugar and cereals to other essentials such as toiletries and hygiene products
Roy Monks, from Ibstock food bank, said: “Holiday hunger is an issue that more and more people face each year in the Leicestershire area.
“During the school holidays the provision of free school meals for many children stops and families experience additional financial burden on already stretched budgets. This can result in children and parents going hungry.
“We are delighted to be working with Central England Co-op and supporting the Summer Food Bank Appeal to combat holiday hunger.
“We would ask people, if they can, to donate some items during the campaign.
“This will make a huge difference to help food banks ensure that children and their families don’t go hungry this summer.”