Council targets school meals gap during summer break with Holiday Hunger scheme

A council has set up a pilot scheme to ensure children from the poorest families do not go hungry during the summer holidays when there are no school meals.

Hartlepool Council has set aside £38,000 from its child and family poverty reserve to pay for the Holiday Hunger project.

It will spend £13,000 on food parcels and the rest on grants for community groups which provide meals to children as part of their programmes during the six-week holidays.

Christopher Akers-Belcher, the leader of Hartlepool Council, said: "We are aware that there are high levels of deprivation in parts of our town and this scheme is designed to assist the most hard-pressed families with children.

"Children obviously miss out on school meals during the six-week summer holidays so providing an alternative way to feed children is a priority and worth exploring through this pilot.

"The council itself is facing enormous financial challenges moving forward but prudent financial management means that we are in a position to launch schemes such as this which are vital to the well-being of the local community."