Provide healthy lunches during the school holidays

We are The Kitchen Table and we are fundraising to be able to provide some additional assistance with food to families during the school holidays. We run a free weekly meal service for children and their family or carer, who are affected by the rising cost of living. The rising cost of living has resulted in increasing numbers of families experiencing food insecurity.

Families can attend The Kitchen Table weekly to enjoy a nutritious 2 course meal in a supportive and friendly environment. Each family also receives a free healthy food hamper and access to basics such as toothpaste and shampoo.

During the school holidays families can experience increased financial pressure due to children not receiving free school meals and needing to eat that meal at home. This is in addition to the increased cost of keeping children active and entertained during the holidays.

3 million children nationally are at risk of hunger during the school holidays. The loss of free school meals during the holidays costs a family £30-40 per week. For children in poorer areas we see spelling skills decline or stagnate over the summer holidays, taking weeks to make up for the learning loss. (https://feedingbritain.org 2023).

We would like to give the families who attend our service some additional food to help provide healthy lunches during the school holidays. Our service is open to any family who feels they would benefit from the assistance we offer.

Our fundraiser is aimed at the 6 week summer holiday period which due to its length can have the greatest negative impact on families experiencing food insecurity.

If we could raise a total of £300 we would be able to provide each family that attends (15-20 families per week) enough additional food to make 3 extra lunches per child, per week for 6 weeks. If we can raise £500 then we can provide enough food to make 5 lunches per child, per week for 6 weeks.

We work with organisations and other charities to use good food that would otherwise go to waste due to short dates or supply surpluses. This reduces our costs significantly meaning that we can provide more for less. Our service is entirely run by volunteers.

Please help us to make a difference to families during this summer holiday period.