As a Foodbank, we understand that food poverty is not an isolated issue and that other factors significantly drive people into food poverty. Since the appointment of our Campaigns & Communications Manager, we’ve been working with clients, stakeholders, and other anti-poverty organizations to identify issues that are perpetuating food poverty.
A key campaign of the Foodbank is around Free School Meals, working with the North East Child Poverty Commission and Citizens Advice Newcastle, Newcastle Foodbank is calling for the expansion of free school and college meals for all children whose families receive Universal Credit or other legacy benefits in the North East Combined Authority Area.
While the North East has the country’s highest proportion of pupils known to be eligible for free school meals – with around three in ten (30.4%) of all students in the region registered for this support – it is estimated by Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG) that there are tens of thousands of children and young people who live in poverty in the North East but are not currently eligible for income-related free school meals because the current threshold is so restrictive, and hasn’t changed in six years.
Analysis conducted by the North East Child Poverty Commission indicates that expanding free school meals as an immediate priority to all children and young people receiving Universal Credit or legacy benefits would benefit around 50,000 primary, secondary, and college students across the North East Combined Authority area.
Newcastle Foodbank is currently leading a coalition of foodbanks, trade unions, and anti-poverty organisations calling for policymakers to extend free school and college meals to all children whose families receive Universal Credit or other legacy benefits.
