“When parents can’t afford school meals, we often see the kids come in with a jam butty and a packet of cheap crisps, maybe some squash,” the Reverend Sandra Jones is saying.
“Buying a loaf and some jam is so much cheaper than paying for lunches – but it doesn’t give children what they need. It means everyone isn’t equal, given the same start and chance. Free school meals would do that for kids.” Of all the attempts to lobby the Labour Party conference, which starts at the end of next week, the Reverend Jones may be leading one of the most unique.
The morning the conference opens, on Sunday 27th September, she will lead a call to prayer on behalf of hungry children up and down the land – from the heart of Andy Burnham’s constituency, Makerfield. Rev Jones will be leading the prayers at St Thomas’s Church, where the Prime Minister is a member of the food pantry, which helps people access good, affordable food.
The former deputy headteacher who leads five churches in Wigan, is hoping the power of prayer will move politicians to act. “Those packed lunches make financial sense, but it doesn’t give children what they need,” the campaigning clergywoman says, when we visit her at St Thomas’s, an imposing red-brick gothic church in Ashton-in-Makerfield. “When I was a teacher, I’d see that in the afternoons – children who weren’t able to learn or listen as well as they could.
“We want all children to have a good, nutritious meal at least once a day without parents having to worry. Too many parents are just above the threshold when it comes to qualifying for free school meals, and they’re often being pushed further into poverty.” Churches across the country can order special packs to remember free school meals in their prayers on Sunday 27th.
Meanwhile, the National Education Union’s ‘No Child Left Behind’ campaign will have a stall with children from Monksdown Primary School, at the Labour Party’s official conference ‘Sunday Service’ at St James in the City. The campaign, led by teachers, parents and a coalition of 370+ civil society organisations and public figures, urges the Government to extend Free School Meals to all primary school children in England. The way it’s done in London and in Wales already.
Sophia Henderson, aged 10, is already a veteran campaigner, having previously travelled to Downing Street to talk to ministers about free school meals. Now she’ll be heading to St James’ to try to catch Labour delegates. “It’s important because we need to be able to do our best,” she explains. “All children deserve it, to have good food.
“You can’t learn when you’re hungry – everything is harder when you’re hungry. But lots of parents can’t afford to pay for the lunches, especially if you have two or three children. If they are free you can save £500 a year for each child – and you can use that to pay your bills.”
Her schoolfriend, Amber Smith, nine, is in Year 5, and will be joining the Labour Party Sunday Service too. “We want the government to understand why we need to do this, to help kids and parents,” Amber says. “I know myself it’s really important to get a good meal. It helps me learn, but not everyone gets it at the moment, and not everyone’s family can afford it and that’s not fair.”
In Ashton-in-Makerfield, we also heard from north-west mums who think free school meals are key to lifting cost-of-living pressures on families. “Both me and my partner work – him full-time and me part-time,” Katherine, a mum-of-two from Wigan, said. “So, we’re not entitled to free school meals.
“We find it a struggle to keep our kids’ school meals accounts topped up. I top them up £3 a day so £15 for the full week per child. It’s a struggle paying, and I find myself giving my child grief all the time when he goes over the £3-a-day limit I set for him – but it’s unaffordable on top of all the other bills. It feels like us workers get punished – even though most weeks we struggle like we don’t work.”
Priscilla, another Wigan mum, says free school meals would make a huge difference. “Particularly with the rising cost of food and bills, it would take away some of the financial pressure,” she says. “It would also give parents peace of mind knowing their children are receiving a healthy, nutritious meal at school, while ensuring that no child feels different or excluded.”
Mum Rachel says parents are hit with one cost after another. “We already have to pay for before and after-school clubs just to have the luxury to remain in employment,” she says. Then there are all the holidays where we need to pay £100+ per week per child just to be able to stay in work. And then school meals on top.”
Lindsay, a Wigan foster carer points out that, under the current system, looked after children do not qualify for free school meals. I’m a foster carer; every penny we receive is spent on giving our children amazing experiences,” she says. “In the past we always received free-school meals for our looked after children – a huge weight lifted financially and mentally.
“Now it’s either a rushed packed lunch in a morning or being chased by school to top accounts up. They need at least £5 a day to get something substantial and that adds up very quickly.”
A Department for Education spokesperson said: “This government is giving free school meals to every single child from a household that claims Universal Credit – a historic step backed by over £1 billion in funding that will lift 100,000 children out of poverty. This is alongside the removal of the two-child limit, which taken together, is set to lead to the largest reduction in child poverty in a single parliament, since records began. That is alongside broader action give people the breathing space they need including expanding childcare, rolling out free breakfast clubs across the country, cutting back on uniform costs and cutting energy bills.”
Dan Munro, 34, works with young people and schools in the area. St Thomas’s with Rev Jones. “When I go in to school I see young people who haven’t had anything to eat all day,” Dan says. “It’s very sad but not that unusual. When we run activities in school where there is food provided, you notice the ones who always get there first – to make sure they get something to eat, in case the food runs out.
“Even if it’s just chips they will be there. Often young people will ask can they take something home for a brother or sister too – so you know there are other young people who are hungry at home. Giving children one free, good meal a day makes a huge difference to their lives, their learning, their health, their behaviour. As a society it feels like the very least we can do.”
The story of the loaves and the fishes is central to Christian teaching, and organisers say they hope the church’s intervention on Free School Meals will offer space “to reflect on the steps we’d like the new Government to take to promote justice, dignity and equality”.
Rev Jones is praying that “together, we can build a future where no child goes hungry and all children break bread together in the dinner hall – free from stigma and shame.”
