'Extend voucher scheme to pre-school children'
London Early Years Foundation (LEYF) is urging ministers to extend its free meal voucher scheme to nursery children during the summer holidays.
It follows the government’s decision last month to provide free school meal vouchers for 1.3m children in the UK during the summer holidays.
The scheme is currently only available to children of school age. However, LEYF says it would be “morally wrong and negligent” for the government to exclude the early years sector.
June O’Sullivan chief executive of LEYF said: “Left unaddressed, poverty can alter the trajectory of a child’s entire life and they are more likely to develop mental health issues, become overweight or obese, and die early. This is why the Prime Minister must make it a priority to provide a route out of poverty for all those families and this should include the extension of the free meal vouchers.
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