With the school holidays fast approaching, new research highlights the crucial need to ensure children are supported during the summer gap in school meal provision.
The Trussell Trust’s food banks support families year-round – with nearly two-thirds of all their support last year provided to families with children. Last summer, Trussell Trust food banks supported 430,000 people with emergency food – 160,000 of whom were children, and the charity expects to see similar demand, or even higher, this summer.
Additional research from Tesco highlights the challenges faced in the school holidays. One in 12 respondents said that in the past their children have had to miss meals due to financial constraints – a problem alleviated during term time by access to free school meals.
Pressure on family finances can also see children become less active and more isolated during school holidays. According to Tesco’s research, 42% of families say their children will miss out on clubs and activities during the holidays because of the cost.
Given these challenges, as part of its Stronger Starts programme, Tesco is donating £1 million this summer to FareShare and the Trussell Trust. This is in addition to Tesco’s store-based grants programme, Stronger Starts, which aims to help schools and children’s groups in local communities across the UK.
This summer will also see Tesco expand its pre-packed customer donation bags to all of its large stores. The bags, which typically cost between £2 and £3, are pre-filled with healthy and nutritious long-life items and can be picked up in store and paid for at the checkout. The donated food is passed to FareShare and the Trussell Trust, who will distribute it to charities and food banks to help families who need it most.
In addition to the donation bags, for a week in July and another in August, customers will have the chance to round up their bill at the checkout to the nearest pound. Last year, generous Tesco customers donated nearly £600,000, which was split between FareShare and the Trussell Trust. Customers shopping online will also be able to make a monetary donation as they check out.
For families shopping in store, the supermarket will also be running its popular Kids Eat Free scheme in its 317 cafés across the UK over the school summer holidays. The supermarket’s cafés will be offering one free Kids Hot Meal Deal, Kids Breakfast or Kids Pick ‘n’ Mix deal with each item bought by an adult from as little as 60p, when showing their Tesco Clubcard or Clubcard App at the till.
Tesco continues to support FareShare and other community groups year-round by redistributing unsold food from all its stores as part of its Community Food Connection programme, which to date has provided more than 192 million meals. Customers can also donate the value of their Clubcard vouchers to either FareShare or the Trussell Trust online.
Claire De Silva, Head of Communities at Tesco, said: “Too often families with too little support during the holidays see their children miss out on the good stuff every child deserves – not just for their physical health but for their mental wellbeing as well. We can make a difference to the lives of thousands of children, who, without support, could have a tough summer holiday.”
Emma Revie, CEO at the Trussell Trust said: “We are extremely grateful to Tesco for their generous donation and are excited to partner with them to launch these in-store summer activities, making it easier for people to support their local food bank throughout the holidays.”
George Wright, Chief Executive at FareShare, said: “This generous donation from Tesco will ensure we continue providing vital support to charities that rely on FareShare food to strengthen their local communities this summer. Our surplus sourcing model means every £1 of the donation enables over £4 of nutritious food to support those in need. We are deeply grateful for Tesco’s continued commitment to our partnership.”
For more news like this, click here
