Hunger games in holiday time

There is a big worry over many children going hungry during the summer break, as Michael Alexander found

It’s that time of year when the long school summer holidays should mean endless carefree days playing down the park. However, many children in Scotland are facing a less palatable reality – the risk of going hungry. That was the warning delivered by Scotland’s children and young people’s commissioner Bruce Adamson on a visit to the Dundee Foodbank on Constitution Street yesterday.

Mr Adamson joined volunteers to highlight the difficulties facing lowincome families, who usually rely on free school meals.

Foodbanks in Scotland’s major cities are already under tremendous pressure, say charities, and the impact of the holidays is worsening the situation.

The Trussell Trust, which runs more than 400 foodbanks, says more than a third of the people depending on its services are children – and demand peaks during holiday periods.

Mr Adamson is calling on the UK and Scottish Governments to gather data to properly illustrate the scale of the problem and show the number of children affected, so they can put in place effective solutions.

His intervention follows a recent Unicef report, which said one in five UK children were affected by food insecurity.

Mr Adamson said: “No child should be going hungry in the holidays.

“Experiencing food insecurity as a child impacts negatively on physical health, mental health and is a violation of their rights.”

Dundee Foodbank manager Ken Linton revealed that emergency threeday food parcels had been issued to 1,352 adults in the city and 542 children since April 1.

A Fun and Food Programme, set up by former Dundee City Council chief executive David Dorward to tackle “holiday hunger”, was helping to alleviate pressure, he said.

Dundee Foodbank has provided cereal boxes to the scheme, while the generosity of Dundonians has contributed to its continued success.

Mr Adamson said the Dundee programme was one of several excellent projects taking place across Scotland.

However, he added: “While these schemes provide a vital safety net, we need to see holiday hunger within the broader context of poverty and food insecurity.

“A systematic approach is needed to address and eradicate it.”

A Scottish Government spokesperson said action was already having a positive impact on youngsters’ wellbeing, adding: “Local authorities have the flexibility to provide meals to children outwith term time and some chose to use this flexibility during school holidays by providing holiday lunch clubs.

“In addition, we have already invested more than £350 million in welfare mitigation measures, in addition to our £1 million Fair Food Fund.

“This supports projects which develop solutions to food poverty.”

The spokesperson said three questions on food insecurity would be included in the Scottish Health Survey for this year and that – in addition to other measures – this would allow internationally comparable data on the issue to be available from 2019.

No child should be going hungry in the holidays. BRUCE ADAMSON, CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLE’S COMMISSIONER

Picture: Kris Miller. Bruce Adamson, right, children and young people’s commissioner for Scotland, talking to staff and volunteers Huw Stansfield and Peter Andrews at Dundee Foodbank.