Mum welcomes free school meals U-turn
AMUM with three sons has told the Observer that the government’s U-turn on free school meals has come as a huge relief.
Two of her children are eligible for free school meals, and she says that if the vouchers hadn’t continued over the summer, she didn’t know what she was going to do.
In March, just before lockdown started, she had a change in her circumstances, and had to apply for a new Universal Credit claim.
Although she was given a two-week grace period, she had to start the claim in April.
Due to the length of time it takes to process, she spent five weeks with virtually nothing coming in. She says school meal vouchers have been a ‘godsend’ because without them, she would have had just £48 a week – £10 of which goes straight on to her electricity meter – to cover everything for herself and the children.
“There was no way we could have done it without,” she said.
“I didn’t have a clue what we would do, couldn’t imagine.
“It’s just a constant worry, where the next bit of money is coming from, you don’t know what will happen. The thought of having to do dinner, tea.
“There is a constant fear of running out of something, as you don’t have the money for it.”
She also spoke of her sadness about what she feels her children are missing out on by not being in school. She added: “I felt like I neglected them a little because I couldn’t give
I them what they normally get in school. It’s been the worst couple of weeks ever.
“I can’t even imagine how many families are in the same situation, or even worse off.”
The U-turn has also come as a relief to those who work with children who are at risk of missing meals during school summer holidays.
Link4Life coach Scott Hardy has been running a number of Fit and Fed projects in Rochdale, which help children who could potentially go hungry without access to school meals outside term time.
He says families are having to spend more money on food, because children are at home all the time, while also dealing with the loss of childcare and potentially the loss of jobs. He said: “If they have lost income, but the cost of living is going up because they are having to have more meals, it will have a massive impact.
“Sometimes the parents will go hungry instead to make sure the kids eat.”