Charity Meals & More has called on the government to keep supporting children in need when schools close for the holidays.
The charity, set up by Brakes in 2015, wrote to the Chancellor ahead of the budget submission to highlight the need to extend the current Holiday Activities & Food (HAF) programme past its three-year term.
The programme was set up in 2021 and received £200m in funding from the government to last until 2024.
Peter McGrath, operational director at Meals & More, said inflation “significantly eroded” the £200m allocated by the former government. That was now a “woefully inadequate” sum to tackle child hunger, he added.
Meals & More is also calling for the programme to be extended to all children in poverty, not just those in receipt of free school meals.
“The introduction of the HAF programme was a major milestone in helping to address holiday hunger. However, there has been no commitment to continue the programme after its initial term,” McGrath said.
Paul Nieduszynski, CEO of Sysco GB, added: “Since we first launched Meals & More in 2015, the journey has been incredible, moving holiday hunger from an unnoticed issue to a government issue. However, the challenge remains and there are some four million children facing food poverty.
“Last year, we committed our support to Meals & More for another five years and we hope that the government will see how much this support is needed and make a similar commitment for its Holiday Activities & Food programme.”
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