Morley Newlands Academy has started a scheme which ensures their pupils don’t miss the most important meal of the day as the cost of living crisis rises.
As the cost of living crisis rises, recent research suggests that a third of children in Leeds are currently living in poverty with around 54,000 children and infants thought to be affected as their families are struggling to afford to put food on the table. Morley Newlands academy currently spends £6000 a month to provide bagels to every pupil before the school day starts. The scheme means that those parents who cannot afford to provide three meals a day can ensure that their children are at least getting a substantial breakfast to start their day off right.
The scheme which originally started before the COVID19 pandemic was funded by a charity called Magic Breakfast. However, after the funding stopped, the school decided to take it into their own hands to fund breakfast because Matthew Fitzpatrick, the head teacher, stated: “there was still an expectation from families to provide for their children so that is what we decided to carry on doing.”
The economic ripples caused by COVID19 and the increasing cost of living has led more families to seek help to feed their kids over the last year. Jane Saddler, a parent at Morley Newlands Academy says that the school intends to keep their scheme going in the long term future as the breakfast queue has expanded more overtime and more parents are struggling than ever before.
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