School Food Matters responds to ‘grim’ findings on access to free school meals

Stephanie Slater, Founder and Chief Executive at School Food Matters, said: "This new report from Child Poverty Action Group and Covid Realities brings us the grim statistic that one million school-aged children in poverty are missing out on a free school meal. We cannot continue to ignore the plight of low income families who have been hit so hard by the pandemic. This report reflects findings from our Covid response programme which provided over a million nutritious breakfasts during school closures; one in four of the families who needed our help were not eligible for free school meals. This must change. We wholeheartedly support the call for an end to the restrictive eligibility criteria which results in so many children missing out, and we share the reports' ambition for universal provision.”

You can find the report here.

Note to editors

About School Food Matters

School Food Matters exists to teach children about food and to improve children’s access to healthy, sustainable food during their time at school.

We provide fully funded food education programmes to schools. Our experience delivering these programmes informs and strengthens our campaigns, bringing the voices of children, parents and teachers to government policy.

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