A Sheppey school is fighting back against holiday hunger and has already delivered its first round of food parcels to families of vulnerable pupils.

Oasis Academy launched the scheme last week which will see food parcels, paid for by local council grants, packed full of tins and long-life products.

The parcels, which normally cost about £30, will benefit 140 families after funding was pledged from Minster Parish Council and Sheerness Town Council.

The goods are delivered by charity FareShare every Monday to the Salvation Army’s base in Sheerness High Street before being distributed throughout the afternoon and Tuesday.

Oasis Academy’s community liaison, Paul Murray, said: “We have started to deliver our food parcels to the families of some of our most vulnerable pupils.

“The first batch of deliveries is all done and we’ve got four more weeks to do.

“The staff who volunteered to deliver them with me were brilliant and we couldn’t have done this without the funding from Minster Parish Council and Sheerness Town Council.

"The staff who volunteered to deliver them with me were brilliant."

“It’s brilliant and we can’t thank people enough for the support they have given us in doing this.”

Minster councillors were the first to donate to the cause with £4,250 going towards the scheme, which was enough to feed 100 families once a week for five weeks.

A further £2,500 was handed to the group by Sheerness council which has meant the programme can be expanded to another 40 homes per week.

Mr Murray added: “Some people do have lovely houses and keep them nice but we can’t judge them on that.

“We must help people where they ask for it. We have a very hard working team at the academy who know our pupils and what is going on at home.”

Deliveries have been made to most areas of the Island including Minster, Sheerness, Eastchurch, Queenborough and Halfway.

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