Children who go hungry during school holidays

SIR – As millions of children return to school in England and Wales, we should consider that, for many, the holidays will have been very difficult.

The crisis commonly termed “holiday hunger” is being increasingly reported. In April a report from the All Party Parliamentary Group on Hunger suggested that food insecurity threatened as many as three million children during school holidays. However, the true scale of the problem remains unmeasured and unmonitored.

Successive governments and all parties have recognised the importance of free school meals, to assist the poorest families. It remains an area of inequality that such support is provided for only 39 weeks a year, rather than the full 52.

Early research into existing holiday meal and activity programmes has found tangible benefits for children, families and communities. In January, the Welsh government announced its investment in a national “Food and Fun” holiday programme that combined activities and meals. The UK Government should now follow suit.

The Labour MP Frank Field’s forthcoming School Holidays (Meals and Activities) Bill would place legal obligation on local authorities to ensure the provision of free meals and activities for those children who face going hungry over the summer break, and allocate funding for this. Readers can assist by asking their MPS to back this Bill. Their children and grandchildren should receive equal support, whether they are in Wales or Walsall, London or Leeds. Niall Cooper

Director, Church Action on Poverty Carmel Mcconnell

Founder and chief executive, Magic Breakfast

Rt Rev Paul Butler

Bishop of Durham and 19 others; see telegraph.co.uk