A Mayoral candidate is backing the Mirror’s crusade for free school meals for every primary pupil in England.
Kim McGuinness is the Labour candidate in the North East Combined Authority on May 2. The current Northumbria Police and Crime Commissioner, Kim visited her old school to see a vital breakfast club in action. Children at Cheviot Primary in Newbiggin Hall, Newcastle arrive early for the most important meal of the day. Kim, 38, the daughter of a Geordie shipyard worker, was the first person in her family to go to university.
She wants to give the same opportunities to the children at her old school and 375,000 young people in the region. “We know that people are really feeling the cost of living,” she said. “It isn’t just short term due to the cost of living crisis as the Tories want to frame it, or the fault of COVID or the war in Ukraine.
“It’s a long term issue. We have to come together to look at how we can alleviate that poverty and make a change for kids.” Kim stressed that the mayoral budget, even at £6.1bn over 30 years, will not cover the costs of free school meals in the region.
“We don’t have the money to be able to just say that we’re going to do this,” she added. “This has got to be about bringing people together across the region to tackle child poverty. We are going to measure the success of a combined authority by the number of children lifted out of poverty, with a number of measures to tackle it.
Why every child deserves a free school meal
The country’s children should not be the victims of the cost of living crisis.
They should not have to pay the price because their parents cannot afford to put food on the table or heat the family home.
But at the moment there are nearly four million children living in poverty. Many of them are being brought up in homes where there is not enough money to pay for a hot meal. Some are having to skip meals entirely.
That is why the Mirror is calling on the government to provide free school meals for every primary pupil in England.
The Scottish and Welsh governments are introducing universal free school meals. It’s time England did the same.
If a child is hungry they cannot learn. It makes it harder for them to concentrate in class and harder for them to reach their potential.
Free school meals for all primary-age children would save parents vital pennies – money which could be used to pay for warm clothes, school activities or heating.
It would reduce the bureaucracy attached with deciding which pupils are eligible. Most importantly, it would mean every child have the chance to flourish.
You can find out more about our Free School Meals for All campaign here
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North News & Pictures Ltd northnews.co.uk)
“I was on free school meals and we still have a significant number of children eligible for free school meals. We really need long term changes, so that it is no longer acceptable for kids in this region or anywhere else to grow up in poverty.”
As Police and Crime Commissioner, Kim found that 70 percent of Government funding had been taken away from youth provision. She added: “I really identify with the idea that working class people have jobs while others have careers. “That was definitely my experience growing up. I think that’s the thing that we’ve got to change for this generation of the working class kids. I think Marcus Rashford drew attention to free school meals, and it has been really transformative. That’s why we back the Mirror campaign.”
Labour bosses have resisted adopting the policy, preferring to focus on Shadow Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson’s proposals for breakfast clubs in all primary schools. But campaigners argue that expanding free school meals would have a greater impact on the neediest kids.
Our crusade makes clear that children should not be the victims of the cost of living crisis. They should not have to pay the price because their parents cannot afford to put food on the table or heat the family home. The Scottish and Welsh governments are introducing universal free school meals, and we are calling for the same in England.
Kim did her first Great North Run for the Feeding Families charity and is in training for it again this year with the help of husband David Prutton, 43, a deputy base commander with the RAF. Cheviot Primary School’s Executive Head Teacher, Mr. Lee Gallon said: “The importance of school meals cannot be overstated. They ensure every child, regardless of their circumstances, has access to a healthy nutritious and balanced meal every school day.
“This may be the only healthy, hot meal they have on a daily basis. Good nutrition is vitally important for good health and by keeping our children fed, it also helps to keep them healthier and happier as well as improving concentration in the classroom, which in turn improves their learning capacity. Where families are struggling to feed themselves and manage their budgets, an expansion of the campaign ‘free school meals for all’ would be very welcome indeed. No child should be hungry and this initiative will help to tackle the problem of food poverty, which unfortunately, many families face.”