Issue details

An Appeal was launched by Feeding Bristol on 21st May 2019 for the provision of food for vulnerable children to alleviate food poverty over the summer holiday period in 2019. In responding to the Appeal the Mayor made a pledge of £25,000 on behalf of Bristol City Council.
In summer 2018 Feeding Bristol benefited from a £30,000 grant from the Department for Education that funded the provision of around 15,000 meals over the 6-week holiday period, feeding over 2,000 children on free school meals. However, the Government decided not to award any funding to Bristol this year, instead allocating all of the funding for the South West region to Plymouth.
Bristol has the highest number of children registered for free school meals of any Local Authority in the South West, and the decision by Government not to provide any funding left Bristol in desperate need.
Feeding Bristol have been working with the Council’s Public Health Directorate and Bristol Community Health to develop appropriate menus to ensure that nutritious food is provided across the six-week period.
The social impact will be as follows:
• Provision of over 50,000 meals across over 120 organisations
• An estimated 5,000 vulnerable children will receive food over the six-week period, up to 3 times a week
• A number of projects, and one-off events, are planned that will support children and their parents, thereby supporting vulnerable families and developing a sense of community
• 11 organisations are receiving 50% of the food, mainly made up of the play sector and Children Centres
• 54 organisations are receiving fewer than 100 meals
• Approximately a third of meals will be provided from catering hubs. The rest will be created on site through food delivered or collected from FareShare South West.