Food poverty spikes during school holidays. With term-time free meals paused, thousands of children face hunger. Feeding Britain steps in to close that gap. The charity will create 1,900 additional holiday club places this summer and autumn in the northwest of England.
A decade of practical food support
Feeding Britain is a UK-wide network of 133 local partnerships and over 700 frontline charities and community groups. Together, they provide food support and campaign for policy change to end food insecurity.
- 270,000 people helped in 10 years
- 80% of users face chronic food insecurity
- 32,000 children joined a holiday club last year
- Target for 2025: 50,000 places
Holiday clubs offer more than meals. Kids get involved in food prep, learn cooking skills, and take part in activities that boost their health and confidence. One parent from Bradford said:
“The club felt like a holiday to my son because he was doing fun activities away from home with other children. It has been the highlight of his holidays.”
Policy change alongside practical support
Feeding Britain goes beyond frontline action. Since their first report in 2014, they’ve investigated the root causes of hunger and pushed for systemic change. One of their key campaigns is to auto-enrol eligible families in free school meals and Healthy Start programmes—cutting red tape for those who need support the most.
Andrew Forsey, Director of Feeding Britain, said:
“The best estimates suggest that a little over 200,000 children in poverty in England alone are eligible but not registered for their free school meal entitlement. Feeding Britain has worked with dozens of local authorities, with support from the Department for Education, to explore ways of maximising registration rates, and one clear recommendation has emerged: a national policy of auto-enrolment, covering both Healthy Start and free school meals, should be embedded in a single application form, which, when eligible families apply for universal credit, automatically signs them up for these two schemes without the need to fill in separate applications.”
£20K from Health Lottery players for Summer and Autumn holiday clubs
Feeding Britain will use the grant awarded by The Health Lottery Foundation to support 1,900 more children through their Healthy Holidays programme. The clubs are a lifeline for low-income families and a source of fun and nourishment for the kids who attend.
The support of Health Lottery players is helping that work grow and to date our players have now helped raise over £134 million for vital good causes.
