Birmingham group provides free food to families after motion to extend free school meals fails

#endchildfoodpoverty 1.4 million children eligible for free school meals will now go hungry through half-term break.

On the 21st October 2020, the Labour Party’s motion calling to extend free school meals over the holidays was defeated by a majority of 61 with 322 votes to 261.

This decision has left parents and guardians panicking all over the country, wondering how they are going to cope through an already difficult time.

Former UKIP leader, Nigel Farage, has commented saying the decision looks “mean and wrong”.

On GOV.UK, there are common questions asked by people regarding how the government expects to overcome poverty and help hungry families. GOV.UK has stated that it is not up to schools to provide food during the holidays.

If families are struggling, they can get Universal Credit which has been changed the month of October 2020, so people no longer have to wait up to five weeks for a payment. But does this provide satisfactory ‘help’?

South Birmingham Lunches

Outraged by the recent decision, 22-year-old Callum Halpin from Birmingham decided “enough is enough” and has worked hard to make sure that families in South Birmingham will not struggle or worry about where food is going to come from.

Through a group on Facebook called South Birmingham Lunches, Callum, his girlfriend Holly Dack, and many of their friends and family, have been providing meals for families in the South Birmingham area.

The scheme started at 8am on the 24th October, and has since been making meals, creating group chats, and organising delivery drivers to ensure they provide for as many people as possible. They work all day so that families in the area have food for the week.

The number of requests that they received grew all day while they made the meals. Callum said “The messages kept coming. One minute we thought we were halfway done, the next we realised we still had so much to do.”

They started with the Rubery, Northfield and Bromsgrove area, and have since expanded to the Weoley Castle and Kings Norton areas too.

The group on Facebook keeps growing showing how many people are willing to help, but also showing how many people need the help.

In our conversation with Callum, he says “I didn’t want parents waking up thinking they weren’t going to be able to feed their children.”

Some local businesses offered to help, including; Jacks, Akwaclean, Fludealicious, Marketing by SGM, Gossip Café and Waz’s Bistrot, proving that community and kindness will pull through during difficult times.

Conservative Selaine Saxby MP commented saying “I am delighted our local businesses have bounced back so much after lockdown they are able to give away food for free, and very much hope they will not be seeking any further government support.”

Sajid Javid, the conservative MP for the South Birmingham area also voted against the motion to feed children during holidays.

Many argue that our government “should be ashamed of themselves” for this type of thinking.

Callum goes on to say “It is the government’s responsibility to help people. We’re more than happy to do it, but it shouldn’t be us doing it.”

Marcus Rashford

Noticing many communities taking a stand against the motion, Marcus Rashford has shared on Twitter the South Birmingham Lunches kindness and humanity.

The Manchester United player, Marcus Rashford, has been the voice of those struggling during this difficult time. He has managed to get over 1 million signatures on a petition for free meals to be provided during term breaks.

The petition is hoping to:

· Expand free school meals to under 16s where a parent or guardian is in receipt of Universal Credit or an equivalent benefit

· Provide meals and activities during holidays

· Increase the value of Healthy Start vouchers to at least £4.25 per week and expand the scheme

Picture my @MarkcusRashford via @Twitter

This is only the fifth time an online parliament petition has reached over 1 million signatures. He states these three things “must be implemented without delay to #endchildfoodpoverty”.

Another petition – ‘No public money for MP meals’ – has collected nearly 1 million signatures. It calls for an end to paid expenses on food and drink for MPs, in response to the cutting of free school meals.

According to the petition page, its argument is “If the public purse cannot afford to feed the poorest in our society, why are we feeding those least in need?”

What is the welsh response to the motion?

The Welsh Labour government announced that they had put together a funding package of £11m to make sure that free school meals are provided during every school holiday, up to and including Easter break in 2021.

Philippa Gibson, a 23-year-old student at Bangor University, says: “I think the fact that the government has decided to not give free meals to children is ridiculous.”

When hearing about the Welsh Labour government announcement, Philippa goes on to say, “it’s excellent that the welsh government are doing something different.”

A study by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) showed that babies and toddlers from lower socio-economic backgrounds have been affected negatively by the pandemic as they haven’t had as much access to books and outdoor space, which is the argument for sending them back to schools and nurseries.

I think it’s important that communities stand together during difficult times such as these. It’s a demonstration of love and humanity that so many are standing up for each other.

However, why does care for children seem to stop during term breaks? There was help during the summer holidays, which was greatly appreciated. But have government officials ‘lost interest’?

If those in charge are aware of the impacts of not having books, wait until they see what happens when children don’t have food.

(Edited version) Published on Seren

By Holly Busby