Free school meals to be provided to up to 3,400 Worcester children throughout summer holidays - The Worcester Observer

Free school meals to be provided to up to 3,400 Worcester children throughout summer holidays

Worcester Editorial 14th Jul, 2022   0

FREE lunches will be provided to up to 3,400 of Worcester’s children for the majority of the school summer holidays, the City Council has revealed.

Guildhall bosses will pay for free lunches for just over four weeks from the start of August for children who would normally receive free meals in term-time at a cost of £215,000

Vouchers are already being provided for the first two weeks of the summer holidays by Worcestershire Children First.

Children will receive vouchers worth £3 per day which can be redeemed at supermarkets for food and drink. Details of how to download the vouchers will be provided to the children’s parents before the end of term.




The announcement was made by Coun Marc Bayliss, leader of Worcester City Council at a cost-of-living conference at the University of Worcester Arena.

“There can be no one in Worcester who is not acutely aware of the impact the current cost of living crisis is having on families across our city,” he said.


“Worcester City Council has an important role to play in supporting those families that are hardest hit and I am delighted we have been able to secure cross-party support for this to ensure children do not go hungry over the summer holidays.”

Attended by more than 60 people, the conference brought together local organisations from the city’s community, health, business and voluntary sectors.

It was an opportunity for each to share information on the services they provide and to discuss how they can work more closely together to provide greater support for the people being hardest hit by the cost-of-living crisis.

“If someone in need approaches an organisation and they’re not able to help them, they can point them to someone else who can,” Coun Bayliss said.

“It also helped all of us to identify where there is a gap in support services and to start thinking about how we can fill it.”

Organisations attending the conference included Age UK, Worcester Foodbank, the NHS, Worcestershire County Council, Worcester Community Trust, the University of Worcester, Worcester BID and many others.

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