Council vote on holiday lunch clubs
An ambitious council pilot scheme aimed at helping low-income families in Rutherglen and Cambuslang will be tested this summer throughout the school holidays.
St Anthony’s Primary will be the venue for a school holiday lunch club if councillors give the plans their seal of approval at an education committee meeting taking place today (Wednesday).
The local authority proposal states: “The school holiday lunch clubs aim to prevent children going hungry in the summer holidays and improve children’s health and promote learning through a programme of fun and engaging activities.”
It would run for the entire month of July and the first two weeks of August.
If successful, future clubs would then run through the summer holidays, the Easter holidays and the October week, starting in spring 2019.
The estimated cost for the pilot initiative, which will also run at Udston Primary School and Glenlee Primary School in Hamilton, is £68,000.
In February, neighbouring North Lanarkshire Council announced a similar scheme, called Club 365, which was piloted across Coatbridge during the Easter holidays and saw almost 1000 youngsters benefit.
Commenting on the proposed plans for South Lanarkshire, head of education Anne Donaldson said: “If approved at committee on Wednesday, school summer holiday lunch clubs will be provided on a pilot basis in three primary schools.
“We know that the school summer holidays can be a challenging time for low-income