Community urged to fund holiday lunches for children in poverty

Can you spare £10 or more this summer to pay for holiday lunches for children experiencing extreme poverty?

That’s the plea from Hackney Foodbank as they prepare for their annual lunch club. Last year they provided 500 lunches over the six-week holidays, this year that number is expected to be considerably higher.

Pat Fitzsimons, CEO of Hackney Foodbank, said: “Many of the children we see at our annual holiday club are malnourished. 45 per cent of children in Hackney live in poverty and it’s a sad fact that many parents struggle to provide three meals a day during the holidays. Free school meals are a lifeline in term-time but without charities like ours, children will go hungry during the holidays and that has real impacts on their development and wellbeing.

“While so many families are planning lovely summer holidays, others are struggling to fund even the basics. Wages have failed to keep pace with the rising cost of living; food, rents and energy bills have all increased hugely. Many of our visitors are working people who simply don’t earn enough to manage. We have a duty of care to ensure children in our community have enough to eat.

“I would urge anyone who can to sponsor our summer lunch club. £10 can fund lunch for one child for a week.”

Food and drink prices in the UK rose by 19.2% in the year to March 2023 - the highest rate in over 45 years.  Hackney Foodbank is currently providing food for around 650 people per week. They’re referred via a range of agencies; from healthcare providers and charities to the Citizens Advice Bureau.

Visitors referred to the food bank for lunch club this year will be offered vouchers which will enable them to choose lunches for their children from local stores. It means they’ll be able to choose food that meets their dietary or cultural needs. 

To contribute towards the cost of holiday lunches, please visit https://donorbox.org/lunch-club-2023

Editor’s Notes

A recent report by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, found Hackney to have the capital’s fourth highest level of child poverty. Levels were only worse in Tower Hamlets, Newham and Barking and Dagenham. It’s estimated that 700,000 families in London are living in poverty.

The report entitled ‘The Essential Guide to Understanding Poverty in the UK’   states: “There is evidence that suggests low incomes are associated with potential symptoms of anxiety, such as lack of sleep, lacking energy and feelings of depression. For children, even at a young age, there is a gap in young people’s educational attainment by parental income level, and this continues throughout the different stages of a child’s education.”

It stated the attainment gap between the most and least disadvantaged pupils had already widened during the Covid-19 pandemic, due in part to the digital divide, home learning environments and falling incomes.

Hackney Foodbank recently marked its 10th anniversary. They are part of a national network of foodbanks supported by the Trussell Trust, working to combat poverty and hunger in the UK.

They’re currently giving out around 650 food parcels per week (each parcel can contain enough food for a family for a few days). They operate from a warehouse in Hoxton (The Florence Bennett Centre) and have distribution points across Hackney.

For further information or to arrange an interview with Pat Fitzsimons, please contact Jenna Fansa on 07812 245118.