THOUSANDS more children from low-income families are to benefit from free breakfast clubs, the government has announced.
The government has invested £24million into getting kids free breakfasts for the next two academic years.
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The new National School Breakfast Programme will deliver breakfast food items to around 2,500 schools for the academic years 2021-22 and 2022-23.
Thousands of children, especially those in disadvantaged areas, will benefit from the help.
Schools will today receive guidance on how to roll out the programme to families from low incomes.
This will include more information on how children can sign up to the breakfast clubs, and who will be eligible for the scheme.
We’ve asked the Department for Education for more details on how parents can apply for the help and will update this article as soon as we know more.
How can I apply for free school meal vouchers?
HOW you claim the free school meals depends on where you live.
For example, you can either get a form to fill in from your school, call your local council or fill in an online form.
Start by entering your postcode into the Gov.uk website to see what the process is in your area.
There’s a different process if you live in Northern Ireland, Scotland, or Wales.
It’s worth pointing out that if you claim housing benefit or council tax support you can apply for free school meals when you are filling out your forms.
Children and families minister Vicky Ford said: “Family Action will lead this delivery in schools, backed by our £24 million investment, meaning hundreds of thousands of children can benefit from breakfast clubs over the next two years – I encourage all eligible schools to sign up.”
It comes as thousands of hard-up Brits have been relying on free school meals to feed their kids – especially throughout previous Covid lockdowns.
According to campaign group Food Foundation, around 200,000 UK kids skipped meals during the first coronavirus lockdown because they didn’t have enough food.
The government therefore rolled out food packages to kids eligible for free school meals while schools remained shut to curb the spread of the deadly virus.
But after national uproar – spearheaded by football star Marcus Rashford – over the size and quality of food in the packages, Boris Johnson allowed Brits to sign up to voucher schemes instead in January this year.
More to follow…
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