Plate UpTackling school hunger affecting thousands of children every year
Plate Up's Impact
Since its inception in 2018, Plate Up has been reaching and helping thousands of children and their families every year. This number keeps rising and so far to date we have achieved the following.
Why are school children going hungry?
Holiday Hunger affects thousands of school children whose families rely on free school meals.
When schools close for holidays, families on the lowest incomes struggle to pay for extra food. Parents often skip meals themselves or live off cereal so their children can eat. Children as young as 5 are going hungry.
Plate Up was launched in 2018 to tackle rising rates of holiday hunger. The aim was to deliver a range of programme activities including sport, music and art, helping to engage young people in stigma free environment where they can access food without embarrassment or having to ask.
Activities are delivered by a combination of trained youth workers and volunteers for 10 weeks of the year, on a 5-day basis, providing 30,000 meals for approximately 3,000 young people every year.
This year brought unprecedented levels of change as our schools shut down for up to 6 months and children experienced high levels of anxiety and lack of social contact.
Our response has been to adapt Plate Up into the Summer Sessions which incorporated activities aimed at improving mental health & well-being and ‘back to school’ taster sessions.
This is a vital programme that we simply cannot do without your help so please consider donating to Plate Up. With your help, families need no longer dread the school holidays.
Your £5 donation will pay for a meal and activities for 1 child. Just click on the donation box above.
Or if you prefer, Text PLATEUP to 70085 to donate £5 or more*
Coping with Covid restrictions
The arrival of COVID-19 has highlighted inequality that existed long before lockdown, exasperating it further as more families struggle to make ends meet due to job loss and suspended hours.
For this reason, we have adapted Plate Up holiday clubs to operate within Covid-19 restrictions. Ensuring social distance and sanitation measures are maintained while ensuring children receive a free lunch or takeaway meal. In cases where this hasn’t been possible, food parcels have instead been provided for their families.
Update on our Plate Up campaign
Marcus Rashford’s campaign to extend free school meals throughout school holidays until Easter 2021 was voted down in the Commons.
Since then, Oasis Hubs food projects have seen demand rise as the furlough scheme draws to a close and many families face uncertainty.
Our aim is to maintain our emergency provision so that children do not go hungry in the school holidays at the same time as continuing to campaign for a long term solution to food poverty.