Communities join in mission to combat child hunger ‘ for good’

CALDERDALE COMMUNITIES have come together in an effort to end child hunger in the West Yorkshire borough “for good” with a new donations and matchfunding project.

Partners including Calderdale Council, the Community Foundation for Calderdale and The Piece Hall Trust yesterday launched a long- term campaign, Never Hungry Again.

It comes as a petition started by footballer Marcus Rashford to ensure children in need get free school meals during the holidays last night reached a million signatures. Calderdale Council and the Community Foundation launched the School Holiday Food Support project earlier this year to help those most affected by the pandemic, and their efforts now include the start of a new fund, allowing anyone in the borough to make a donation to help tackle child hunger.

Until November 3, any donation to the new fund of up to £ 75 will be doubled and distributed to families who need extra support.

And between November 3 and December 9, donations up to £ 5,000 will be matched poundforpound. The Community Foundation for Calderdale will “continue to make match funding available for as long as its resources last,” it says.

Steve Duncan DL, CEO of Community Foundation for Calderdale, said: “Kindness and generosity is part of Calderdale’s DNA.

“We saw it after the 2015 and 2020 floods helping to raise over £ 1.6m to help those affected by the flooding. I just know that Calderdale people will rise to the challenge again and support our struggling families in their time of need. We at the Community Foundation will double all your donations as long as possible.”

Meanwhile, the Manchester United star’s mission to ensure no child goes hungry has gripped the nation and caused a major headache for the Government after it voted down a Bill to fund the campaign.

Dozens of councils in England – many of them Tory led – have taken matters into their own hands by paying for food out of their budgets, while hundreds of businesses have stepped up to help out. Rashford has been using his social media platforms to highlight the efforts of local communities and calling on the public to sign his petition.

In response to the row, the Government has insisted it is in the process of examining how holiday clubs could be used to feed hungry children. The Holiday Activity andFoodProgrammeisthebrainchild of Henry Dimbleby, the Government’s food tsar and co- founder of the Leon restaurant chain, and was trialled across 17 local authorities over the summer.

It is too late to implement the scheme for half- term, which is either this week or next week for most schools, but may be in place by Christmas.

The Government has said it had made provisions for families living in food poverty through increases in Universal Credit. Its decision to vote against the free school meals it funded over the summer – again following a campaign by Rashford – provoked a backlash against MPs from many of their constituents.

■ To donate to the Calderdale fund, visithttps:// localgiving. org/ charity/ cffc/ project/ neverhungryagain/.

Kindness and generosity is part of Calderdale’s DNA. Steve Duncan DL, CEO of Community Foundation for Calderdale.