Campaign group tells City Hall ‘working poor’ parents struggle to buy dinners

Published: 21 January, 2011
by JOSH LOEB

Mums insist all pupils should get free meals

MOTHERS have called on City Hall to follow the lead of “poorer councils” by making free school meals more widely available.

Currently all but the children of parents on income support must pay for meals in Westminster state schools.

However, activists have warned that couples who work but are on low incomes often struggle to earn enough to provide a healthy, balanced diet for their children.

Now Inspiring Change – a group of mothers from south Westminster – have launched a petition urging the council to copy Newham, Southwark and Islington by providing free school meals to more pupils. Yesterday (Thursday) they held a meeting at the Churchill Gardens Estate in Pimlico to discuss their proposals.

Christine Goldsmith, who has a child attending St Matthews Primary School in Pimlico, said she and her husband found it difficult to afford to feed their children healthily.

She said: “I guess we would be called working poor. People in our situation are in between the disadvantaged ones who get free school meals and the wealthy ones who can afford them.”

Emma Taylor, who has children at Churchill Gardens Primary and Pimlico Academy, said she could not afford to pay for school meals for her own children despite working as a school dinner lady.

Members of the Inspiring Change group have taken part in training sessions led by the Save the Children charity. They believe packed lunches provide a poor alternative to freshly cooked food.

Group member Dianne Bell said: “A lot of children aren’t getting a hot meal when they go home and they don’t get fruit or vegetables. When they come home from school they might be getting something from the chip shop or a takeaway. 

“If we had free school meals for all young people, especially at primary school age, that would mean that every child was getting at least one hot meal a day. 

“Obesity is on the increase in Westminster, which ends up costing the NHS money.”

She added that it was beneficial, particularly in winter, for children to be given hot food at lunchtime rather than sandwiches, and said that pilot projects in Newham and Southwark had shown that offering universal free school meals had a beneficial impact on the health of young people.

Hundreds of Westminster residents have already signed the petition.

In addition to their meals campaign, Inspiring Change want City Hall to create more safe play areas and are calling for refrigeration in schools, so that packed lunches can be safely stored.

A Westminster City Council spokeswoman said they have no plans to make school meals free. 

She added: “School meals in Westminster are some of the cheapest in London and heavily subsidised by the council. We currently provide around 3,000 free school meals to children from low-income families.”