Nearly 4,000 free meals handed out

ALMOST 4,000 free meals were supplied by Sefton Council to children over the summer holidays.

The council ran its’ annual Children’s Access to Food Programme for the second year to provide for the neediest children in the borough.

The programme is designed as a replacement for free school meals during the holidays.

In total, 3,981 meals were served across Sefton during a six week period.

Councillor Trish Hardy, Sefton Council’s Cabinet Member for Communities and Housing said: “We had feedback from one mum who said without this service, she would have had to miss paying bills to accommodate the extra cost of feeding her children.

“We also saw a definite reduction in families requesting food vouchers for the food bank at one centre because they were able to access free meals.

“The huge increase on last year shows that there is a need for schemes such as the Access To Food Programme and we are delighted that we have been able to help.”