20,730 children in Enfield and Haringey will benefit from £135 million free school meals fund
Local London Assembly Member Joanne McCartney has welcomed the Mayor’s free school meals scheme that will feed 20,730 children in Enfield and Haringey from the new school year.
New figures from City Hall show that 12,202 children in Enfield and 8,528 children in Haringey will be able to learn on a full stomach as a result of the Mayor of London Sadiq Khan’s £135m free school meals funding in the upcoming school year.
The scheme will help save households in AM McCartney’s constituency more than £440 a year. With child poverty rates in Enfield and Haringey higher than the UK average, this will support families during the cost-of-living crisis by providing nutritious and filling lunches to primary school children.
As Londoners struggle during this crisis, City Hall has stepped up to provide emergency funding to help up to 287,000 primary school children across the capital receive the meals in state-funded schools for the next academic year.
This unprecedented scheme will support Londoners, giving funding to all London boroughs to deliver universal free schools meals to pupils in Years 3-6 of state-funded schools from the start of the new school year in September.
Children had previously only received free meals during those school years if they lived in households on universal credit earning less than £7,400 a year - after tax and not including benefits, and regardless of the number of children in the family.
Latest polling from YouGov shows that close to half (48 per cent) of parents or guardians with children aged between five and eleven are buying less food and essentials.
The free school meals funding is the latest programme from City Hall to support Londoners with the cost-of-living crisis. That includes an emergency funding package of more than £3.5m to help provide around 10m free meals during school holidays and at weekends to low-income Londoners struggling with the spiralling cost of living over the next year, as well as more than £80m to help those struggling with the rising cost of living to tackle fuel poverty, supporting private renters, connecting Londoners to welfare advice and tackling food insecurity.
Ms McCartney said:
“Kids with empty stomachs struggle to pay attention, affecting their ability to learn and do their best at school. Free school meals will help all children get through the school day with the nutrition they need to learn and thrive.
“Families across Enfield and Haringey have been telling me that they’re struggling with the current cost of living crisis. Thanks to City Hall’s free school meals scheme, even those families who are struggling to make ends meet can know that their children will eat a healthy, filling meal at lunchtime.
“I’ve visited schools across London to see how they are preparing for the roll-out and they are so positive. When I visited Stroud Green Primary School at the end of last term, many of the parents told me how helpful this was in dealing with the cost of living crisis.”
Notes to editors
Local London Assembly Member Joanne McCartney has welcomed the Mayor’s free school meals scheme that will feed 20,730 children in Enfield and Haringey from the new school year.
New figures from City Hall show that 12,202 children in Enfield and 8,528 children in Haringey will be able to learn on a full stomach as a result of the Mayor of London Sadiq Khan’s £135m free school meals funding in the upcoming school year.
The scheme will help save households in AM McCartney’s constituency more than £440 a year. With child poverty rates in Enfield and Haringey higher than the UK average, this will support families during the cost-of-living crisis by providing nutritious and filling lunches to primary school children.
As Londoners struggle during this crisis, City Hall has stepped up to provide emergency funding to help up to 287,000 primary school children across the capital receive the meals in state-funded schools for the next academic year.
This unprecedented scheme will support Londoners, giving funding to all London boroughs to deliver universal free schools meals to pupils in Years 3-6 of state-funded schools from the start of the new school year in September.
Children had previously only received free meals during those school years if they lived in households on universal credit earning less than £7,400 a year - after tax and not including benefits, and regardless of the number of children in the family.
Latest polling from YouGov shows that close to half (48 per cent) of parents or guardians with children aged between five and eleven are buying less food and essentials.
The free school meals funding is the latest programme from City Hall to support Londoners with the cost-of-living crisis. That includes an emergency funding package of more than £3.5m to help provide around 10m free meals during school holidays and at weekends to low-income Londoners struggling with the spiralling cost of living over the next year, as well as more than £80m to help those struggling with the rising cost of living to tackle fuel poverty, supporting private renters, connecting Londoners to welfare advice and tackling food insecurity.
Ms McCartney said:
“Kids with empty stomachs struggle to pay attention, affecting their ability to learn and do their best at school. Free school meals will help all children get through the school day with the nutrition they need to learn and thrive.
“Families across Enfield and Haringey have been telling me that they’re struggling with the current cost of living crisis. Thanks to City Hall’s free school meals scheme, even those families who are struggling to make ends meet can know that their children will eat a healthy, filling meal at lunchtime.
“I’ve visited schools across London to see how they are preparing for the roll-out and they are so positive. When I visited Stroud Green Primary School at the end of last term, many of the parents told me how helpful this was in dealing with the cost of living crisis.”