Lewisham Council continues free school meals and more

Lewisham Council announced today that they will use part of the household support fund to address the growing concerns about child hunger, by distributing money directly to schools to use in the most effective way. 

Schools will be free to allocate the money quickly to the children that need it the most, with the headteacher making final approval.   

Free school meal vouchers will continue to be funded during school holidays, and the money can be used in a variety of other ways including support such as free breakfasts; provision of break-time snacks; top-ups to packed lunches, food parcels and meals for children not currently eligible for free school meals (FSM).

All schools in the borough will receive the funding, with allocation of amounts dependent on the levels of need among the children that attend the school.

Cllr Chris Barnham, Cabinet Member for Children, Young People and Community Safety said,

“Meeting the full scale of the crisis requires action at a national level and is beyond the means of one local council. Nevertheless, Lewisham Council is committed to doing what we can to meet the most acute needs.

We know that our schools are extremely concerned about the needs they are identifying, and we applaud the efforts that are already being made to respond as best they can. We want to help, and as a short-term measure have secured an additional one-off allocation from the household support fund which will enable them to go further in feeding children and tackling hunger.”