Published: 13:27, 26 October 2020 | Updated: 15:32, 26 October 2020
It was all hands on deck on Monday as communities across the UK offered free breakfasts, sandwiches and lunch bags to struggling school children.
On the first day of the half term holiday, cafes, councils and community centres threw their weight behind a campaign backed by England footballer Marcus Rashford to extend free school meal provisions.
Their support comes less than a week after the Commons rejected a bid to continue the scheme over the half term by 322 votes to 261.
A child collects lunch bags (Peter Byrne/PA)Sarah Marriott, co-owner of the Brunch Box in Deal, Kent, hands a lunch pack to a young person (Gareth Fuller/PA)Helen Manning prepares sandwiches at The Watering Can, in Greenbank Park, Liverpool. The cafe prepared 100 packed lunches, with sandwiches, crisps, soft drinks, biscuits and fruit, on Monday morning (Peter Byrne/PA)Cafe owner Keith Perryman had a work-around for anyone embarrassed about asking for help – they could ask for ‘Frank” their dog and would then be given a lunch bag (Peter Byrne/PA)Louisa Ingleton puts out a menu offering free breakfasts for children at the Rumour Cafe in Sheerness, Kent (Gareth Fuller/PA)Dawn Grain, manager of the Rumour Cafe, prepares bags containing free meals. Owner Paul West said they wanted to take a little of the pressure off parents (Gareth Fuller/PA)London Fields Primary School in Hackney, London, is offering free lunches over the break, with a sign reading ‘Free of charge. Free of judgement’ (Yui Mok/PA)A chef prepares food for free lunch bags at Pho in Bristol (Ben Birchall/PA)Staff member Dace Jurgenovska prepares free lunch bags for collection (Ben Birchall/PA)A sign outside the Sandon pub in Liverpool. Liverpool City Council has pledged £300,000 to fund the scheme (Peter Byrne/PA)Leah Cain helps deliver packed lunches provided by Taste in Dingle, Liverpool (Peter Byrne/PA)James Koch prepares free packed lunch bags for delivery at the Gallimaufry pub in Bristol (Ben Birchall/PA)Lucy Turpin and her 11-month-old baby Sophie with a bag of food provided by volunteers in London Fields, east London (Yui Mok/PA)
