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27
Jun 2022
Fraction of free school meals children accessing school holidays scheme
Less than a quarter of children eligible for free school meals have accessed a high-profile holidays activities and food programme in North Yorkshire.
Council officials have put the issue down to a lack of public transport in rural areas, an insufficient number of groups and a perceived social stigma among parents.
A meeting of North Yorkshire County Council’s young person’s scrutiny committee heard while the Department for Education had given the authority £1.36m to support healthy eating and activities during school holidays this year, 85% of the funding must be spent on youngsters in receipt of benefits-related meals.
Such is the weight given to ensuring children from poorer backgrounds are the focus of the scheme, which was launched following a campaign by Manchester United footballer Marcus Rashford, that the amount of funding is based on the number of eligible children in the local authority area.
Councillors were told although 2,554 children eligible for free school meals had attended the county’s Food, Entertainment, Art and Sport Together (Feast) programme last summer, they represented just 22% of the county’s children in receipt of free school meals.
The children receiving free school meals had been vastly outnumbered by 3,778 children attending whose parents did not receive benefits.
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The meeting heard the “significant challenge” over reaching children from poorer families had been exacerbated by the number of children eligible for free school meals across the county over the last year rising by 25%, or by some 3,000.
The meeting heard the scheme was seen as vital for vulnerable children, it had been designed to ensure every child from less affluent homes took part in confidence-building activities and learnt about healthy eating.
David Sharp, chief executive of North Yorkshire Youth, said one of the main challenges in attracting primary-aged pupils to Feast schemes was the social stigma parents associated with their children being on the programme.
He said:
Mr Sharp said Feast organisers were trying to create a strong brand that meant parents know about the provision without its promotion being targeted at them.
A lack of public transport in rural areas meant many North Yorkshire children had effectively been excluded from the scheme, the meeting was told.
Feast organisers said they were working on getting funding to transport children to groups and launch more localised activities.
Councillors were told the authority, charities and providers running the scheme had been given little time by the government to develop it last year and this year would see a significant increase in number of projects, places and activities on offer.
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