Thousands of Manchester children to get food support over Easter

Around 39,000 children and their families in Manchester are set to benefit from a helping hand over the next few weeks to make sure children don't go hungry over the school Easter holidays and May half term.

The council's Executive has agreed to extend free school meal provision to the value of £15 per week per eligible child during the upcoming holidays to help offset the difficulties many families are facing due to the continuing pandemic, and that many others were already facing even before Covid kicked in last March.

Unless they are newly eligible for free school meals - in which case they should let their school know - parents don't need to do anything in order to receive the holiday support.

Schools will contact all their eligible families direct over the next couple of weeks to arrange the support and distribute any vouchers.

1.75 million free meals dished up over the last year to Manchester children

The council first stepped in to provide support for children eligible for free school meals and their families twelve months ago during the Easter 2020 school break.

It means that by May the council will have helped dish up the equivalent of around 1.75 million free meals over the last year to children and young people to help go some way towards tackling school holiday hunger.

Around 37% of all pupils in the city's schools are eligible for free school meals, an increase of around 2,000 since the start of the pandemic back in March last year.

Due to the ongoing economic impact of the pandemic this number is expected to rise even higher.

Councillor Garry Bridges, Executive Member for Children and Schools, Manchester City Council, said: "Government have consistently been slow to confirm they will support children with free school meals throughout the holidays - leading to confusion and worry for many families.

"We want our families to know they are not alone through this pandemic and that's why we're once again going to be funding free school meals for all eligible children over the Easter and May half term holidays.

"These last nine months have had a massive impact on so many of our families and young people, lots of whom were already struggling to put food on the table well before Covid kicked in. With a staggering 1.75 million free meals dished up by us alone here in Manchester during school holidays this last year, it's abundantly clear that what must be served up next is a long-term national plan to properly address holiday hunger - which will continue to adversely affect children and their life chances unless real action to end it is taken now."