Mothers who are struggling to feed their kids during the summer break
Mothers have described how hard it is to feed their children during the long sixweek summer holiday without free school lunches and breakfast club.
One said she has been living off toast for the last five days so she can buy fruit and other nutritious food for her two children.
The single mother, 48, from Pontypridd, who lives on the minimum wage, says it is a struggle affording food for herself and her children, aged 14 and eight, during school holidays without breakfast club and free school lunches.
“It’s hard work trying to find the extra money in the school holidays to provide two meals a day for them,” said the mum, who did not want to be identified.
“The price of food, especially healthy food, is ridiculous and my daughter loves fruit. I have been living on toast since last Friday. That’s what you do for your kids.
“I tend to go without during the holidays. I worry less when they are in school because you know they are getting a good meal.
“I’m left with nothing over after paying bills. We won’t be having a holiday and I can’t even do a day out.”
Helyn Sims, 35, from Rhydfelin said she and her husband Paul sometimes go without so their two sons Jenson, 11, and Lewis, eight, can eat properly.
Former deliveryman Paul, 45, has been unable to work for the last three years after a work accident left him needing three back operations, so the family lives off Helyn’s carers’ allowance for Jenson, who has Asperger’s syndrome.
“Food costs a lot of money. When they are at school it is a set meal they are getting,” Helyn said.
“We are not in work. It is a nightmare. The holidays can be hard. I love having them here but buying that extra meal can be difficult because it is extra money and nutritious food is expensive. It’s expensive to include fresh fruit and vegetables.
“Food has got much more expensive in the last few years and the majority of our money goes on food even though we are really good at budgeting.
“I have gone hungry so they can eat. It’s not every month. It depends on whether there have been unexpected bills. I might skip a meal if there have been unexpected bills. It is frightening really.”
Shop worker Kim Davies, 30, from Pontypridd and parther Daniel Humphreys, who works in a scrapyard, are just over the income threshold to get free school meals for daughters Mollie-Mai, three, and Lexi-Mai, six, because they both work.
But Kim is about to have their third baby and rising food costs make it harder to afford food during the school holidays, she said.
“It is a struggle on a normal day and it’s worse in the holidays.
“We don’t get free school meals because we get a couple of pounds over what you need to earn, but the cost of feeding them is still hard and harder in the holidays.
“Me and my partner don’t miss meals but we have never been on holiday as a family. We go to the beach but nothing we need to pay for. We are not the poorest, but it is hard.”
The three mums all send their children to Hawthorn Primary in Pontypridd and are among 100 families at the school to get free food hampers with three weeks’ worth of food and provisions.
The hampers were handed out as part of a campaign by teacher and comedian Shonette Bason-Wood, who is helping families in south Wales by giving out free food.
“Across the six-week school break, the families of children who would normally receive free school meals can struggle with the extra cost of feeding their children during the summer holidays,” she said.
Shonette, who runs an educational training company called Spread the Happiness, has raised funds to put together hampers packed with three weeks’ worth of food, drink and everyday essentials for families.
Shonette visited Hawthorn Primary in Pontypridd and Springwood Primary School, in Llanedeyrn, Cardiff, to deliver 150 hampers – 100 in Hawthorn and 50 in Springwood – filled with family essentials including toothpaste, toilet roll and food.
Shonette, who began her campaign in Teeside where she comes from, is now expanding it across the whole of the UK.
“Holiday hunger is a serious issue,” she said, “One mother I met at a school broke down after receiving her Happiness Food Hamper, as she was so overwhelmed after being so worried about how she would feed her children over the summer holidays.
“After launching the hampers in the north-east, we are now hoping to deliver hampers to as many people as we can across the UK, starting in south Wales. It’s been amazing to meet the teachers at these schools and the parents of their pupils.”
Lucy Noble is headteacher at Hawthorn Primary, where one in three (32%) pupils are eligible for free school meals – compared to the national average for Wales of 17%.
She said schools are increasingly aware of families struggling with the rising cost of living, especially in the holidays.
Before Shonette’s delivery, staff raised funds to buy four food hampers during school holidays.
“We have 255 children at the school, with about 130 families in total, and got 100 hampers from Shonette, ” Lucy said.
“Families getting free school meals get support that goes away during the holidays and some who don’t get free meals are on low wages.
“Children are glad to be back at school after the holidays to get breakfast club and a hot lunch.”
She added: “I believe this is a growing problem over the last few years.
“We have been doing our own hampers for four years because families were increasingly disclosing how hard it is.
“We do it every holiday, but it barely scratched the surface.”