Alder Tree Primary School in Leeds is one of many schools that have had to start funding their own food bank to support their families. A recent report by Bristol University announced that one in five primary and secondary schools across England have introduced food banks. That’s more than 4,000 food banks! It also means that school-based food banks now outstrip the number of community services offered across England.
We spoke with former Deputy Headteacher and current School Gardener, Carol Milburn, at Alder Tree Primary about why their school felt the need to introduce a school food bank.
“We started the food bank after realising the high need for food in the area during COVID-19. During that time our staff did a lot of delivery of food and decided to find a way to continue that when schools reopened.”
Alder Tree used its school garden to stock the food bank with their home grown produce, giving students an opportunity to share their efforts with the community.
However, like so many schools, Alder Tree Primary’s food bank funding is largely based on money from the school and through personal staff donations. It is not a sustainable solution.
Free school meals have many benefits for schools and families, especially during a rising cost of living crisis.
Carol Milburn says: “It would be significant for children if they got free school meals because when children don't meet the threshold to qualify for free school meals, they tend to bring in items that are not nutritious. This policy would help families, children and their school.”
Stephanie Slater, Founder and Chief Executive at School Food Matters, says:
Cash-strapped schools should not have to use their precious funding to feed their students and their school communities. It is shameful that school staff are having to introduce school food banks to make sure families don’t go hungry.
Children deserve free, healthy meals at school. That is why we support the Mayor of London’s commitment to providing free school meals for all primary aged students in London and urge the government to expand access to all students in England, regardless of their postcode.
Read more about our Two Cities campaign here.
