‘We Must Take Care Of Each Other’ – These People Stepped In To Feed The Nation’s Kids
By the time the half-term holidays are over on Friday, more than a hundred thousand meals will have been delivered to hungry children all across the country.
These meals will have come from one of the hundreds of businesses and community groups who have stepped up to do what 322 Tory MPs refused to – extend the free school meals scheme into the holidays.
Spearheaded by England footballer and anti-hunger campaigner Marcus Rashford, the campaign to feed the country’s poorest children has set social media alight and has been met with widespread praise.
Yet despite a huge backlash and outpouring of public anger, the government has refused to continue the programme that had kept more than a million children fed through lockdown and the school holidays.
The Royal Mahal was one of the first businesses in south London to jump onto Rashford’s #ENDCHILDFOODPOVERTY scheme, offering a main course and dessert for children who usually receive a free school meal. “We find it ludicrous that our children are being victimised,” director Arfan Javid told HuffPost UK.
“The government should have extended free meals at the very least until the pandemic is over – this would have been the right thing to do.
“To see this happening in our own communities is a wake-up call for all of us to rethink our minds. No child should go hungry.”
The restaurant suffered “hugely” as a result of the coronavirus pandemic and received no help from the government, he said. But the local community stuck by them.
“The support and well wishes we have received from our most regular customers has been amazing. To provide these free meals is our way of paying them back and letting all know that we are in this together,” he said.
Indiaana, in Ramsey, Huntingdon was also hit hard by Covid-19. “We’ve had a very rough time since lockdown,” said owner Jay Choudhury.
During the height of the first wave, the restaurant provided free food to the over-70s who were in self-isolation. “This...
