Justin Welby urges schools to extend free meals over Christmas
The Archbishop of Canterbury has urged schools to extend free meals over Christmas amid warnings that children are facing a "harrowing" festive period.
The Most Rev Justin Welby called on the Government to provide free school meals to every child whose family is on universal credit, and to expand holiday provision to all children on free school meals.
In an article written with the Bishop of Durham in TES – formerly the Times Educational Supplement – on Thursday, he highlighting the "harrowing" number of families who could be destitute by Christmas.
The call came as figures released by food bank charity the Trussell Trust revealed that the network will need to provide 46,000 food parcels to people in crisis between October and December, an increase of 61 per cent on last year.
The charity also estimated that an additional 670,000 people will be destitute by the end of the year, a prediction the archbishop and bishop described as "harrowing".
Their article said it would be "vital for those [who are] most disadvantaged" that schools in their communities stay open, but added that teachers "can only do so much on their own" and need appropriate funding to help tackle child hunger and poverty.
Against the backdrop of the coronavirus pandemic, they said churches, schools, clergy and teachers have "gone above and beyond to support the people in their communities, many of them places of serious deprivation".
However, they also issued an appeal to the Government, saying: "All schools must have the appropriate resources to be able to address issues of child hunger and poverty and expand their role as places of security for children who are at risk, whilst maintaining safety at school.
"This includes the expansion of free school meals to every child whose family is on universal credit, and the expansion of holiday provision to all children on free school meals.
"A 'nature premium' would also be a valuable development. Outdoor play, exercise and access to nature are vital to healthy learning. Helping schools ensure outside activities continue will aid mental as well as physical health.
"This can't just be plucked out of thin air; schools and their staff are already at their limits when it comes to time and funding. Our teachers are doing their best for us, and we need to do our best for them.
"We call on the Government to make the necessary funding available to all schools, funding that is generous enough for all school sponsors of every sort to recruit enough oversight and train and oversee enough suitable volunteers to meet these basic needs; safety and feeding for all children and young people; and extra educational support and tuition where that is required for pupils who have missed out."
A Government spokesman said: "The latest data shows that 99.9 per cent of state-funded schools are open to pupils and as such, normal free school meal provision has resumed with caterers providing healthy, nutritious meals to those eligible pupils. The national voucher scheme is no longer in operation.
"We continued to provide free school meals while schools remained closed to many children during the pandemic, as part of a much wider package of Government support."
