London free school meals scheme achieves 100 million lunches

A scheme to offer free college meals to all state major college kids in London has given out 100 million lunches, Metropolis Corridor says.It was launched by Mayor of London Sir Sadiq Khan in 2023 to assist households with rising dwelling prices and he has since pledged to fund the scheme all through his time period in workplace.Every little one has to this point been supplied with 435 free lunches on common, saving households as much as £500 a 12 months per little one, the mayor stated.Sir Sadiq stated: “These wholesome meals are making certain kids do not go hungry in school, making them able to study and giving them the power to take advantage of the whole lot the college day gives, whereas additionally taking the monetary stress off their households.”On a go to to Shoreditch Park Main College in Hackney to have a good time the milestone, Sir Sadiq stated he was “delighted” the scheme had helped so many households by supporting kids’s well being and easing monetary pressure.”I do know from private expertise what a distinction these meals make, so to have the ability to be certain that a whole bunch of 1000’s of kids are receiving them throughout London each single day brings big private delight.”When the £130m a 12 months scheme was launched, Metropolis Corridor stated it was to be short-term, because it was being paid for by “one-off funding from further enterprise charges earnings”, though the scheme was later prolonged.The mayor’s funding pays for meals for youngsters in Years 3-6, as pupils in Reception and Years 1 and a pair of mechanically obtain free lunches beneath a central authorities scheme.Earlier this 12 months, the federal government introduced that every one kids whose dad and mom obtain Common Credit score could be entitled to free college meals from September 2026.