When you think of the school holidays, you may think of fun activities, holidays and a chance to recharge before the busy school year kicks off. But for many families on a low income, this is not the reality.
Holiday hunger pushes many families into food poverty and insecurity. Although some children from low-income families can access free school meals during term time, there is currently nothing available during holidays. Holiday hunger also means families can suffer from social isolation during the holidays, as they cannot afford to have family days out or do activities.
Evidence on the impact of hunger on children during school holidays reveals they return to school malnourished, sluggish, and dreary – some even lose ‘significant’ amounts of weight, while others gain a lot of weight.
This also sadly means that children start the new term several weeks, if not months, intellectually behind peers who have enjoyed a more wholesome diet and activity during the school holidays.
What is the Holiday Hunger Challenge?
The Holiday Hunger Challenge is a campaign to raise awareness of what it’s like to be hungry in Britain today.
We are asking you to live on a food and drink budget of £2.50 a day for one week this July to raise vital funds for our work across the country.
We know that we will only be doing this for a week, and millions of people in the UK, including many of those we work with at FoodCycle, don’t have this choice. For them, it isn’t a ‘challenge’, it’s their life, and it’s an ongoing struggle for them to use that budget to feed themselves and their families with nutritious food.
However, living on a low food and drink budget can be an eye-opening experience and we think that, in a small way, it can help people to understand what it’s like to not have enough.
Why are we running this campaign?
In our projects up and down the country, families and individuals are struggling to make ends meet. 61% worry where their next meal will come from and 66% often skip meals.
We want to raise awareness and vital funds for our work, so we can serve more nutritious, free meals across the country and relieve some of the pressures on families.
Bringing people together through tasty, community meals is our bread and butter. With your help, we can make sure more children return to school happy and healthy – and give parents a tasty time too!
If you wish to get involved click here or to donate, please click here.
