Mayor of London calls for action over child food poverty

Emergency funding from the Mayor of London has allowed for more than seven million meals to be given out to low-income families during school holidays and at weekends since April.

Our GreenHut in Brixton Windmill Gardens, part of Community Education Foundation & Lyncx, is one of the organisations to receive funding through the Mayor's £3.5million free holiday meals programme. 

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While visiting Our GreenHut during October half term, Khan told CYP Now: “If it wasn’t for the facilities being organised here in Brixton, these young people would be running round the streets. Idle hands make devil's work and that’s why it’s incredibly important to keep young people busy, safe and healthy.”

The cost-of-living crisis has meant that these services are in demand more than before.

The Felix Project’s research has shown that one in four working parents in London have skipped meals or not bought food for themselves to ensure their children can eat.

Khan said: “I’ve never seen food poverty so bad, and the lack of support from the government is really worrying. The worry is that as winter approaches, you see more examples of children choosing heating over eating. That’s why it’s really important for the government to step up - they should and could be doing much more. They should be providing a minimum amount of free energy for families in fuel poverty, providing further support for those receiving universal credit and welfare benefits, increasing the national minimum wage and making sure those in minimum wage jobs are skilled up.”

In collaboration with The Felix Project and the Mayor’s Fund for London, 500,000 free meals were delivered during October half-term.

Christian Johnson, executive director of Community Education Foundation & Lyncx, said: “This is a space for young people to have food, engage with activities, feel safe and build their skills. We do get some funding but it is never enough for what we do as we have been growing over the last six years.

“Some of the government funding is only given throughout three school holidays a year, and the Mayor’s support helps to fill the gaps in between this. But it’s never enough. Some days we can have up to 350 children using our services, so funding is very needed.”

The Brixton initiative is part of 100 Kitchen Social programmes from the Mayor’s Fund for London.

John Jones, communities project manager at the Mayor’s Fund for London’s Kitchen Social programme, said: “The impact of Kitchen Social extends beyond the free food and activities offered, as we provide recipe books which are culturally appropriate and inclusive to benefit children in their family homes as well.”

The initiatives have provided young people with work and training, such as 16-year-old Nathan who started attending the project when he was 10 and is now a team leader at Our GreenHut.

“From a social standpoint, it was very beneficial as I made lots of friends and it helped me to go out and do things in the half term when I would otherwise be indoors. It has developed and grown a lot since I started out here, particularly in terms of the staff dynamic as we have improved as a group and the activities are getting more diverse and unique,” said Nathan.

This comes after the Mayor of London has introduced further programmes to benefit young Londoners, including free travel for young care leavers.