Free food and fun for Glasgow youngsters

Youngsters across Glasgow will be able to take part and enjoy free food and fun during the school holidays.

Glasgow City Council today (Thursday, 27 February) agreed to fund 70 organisations, through its Children's Holiday Food Programme, with £2.3m to deliver a wide-ranging programme of healthy meals and activities during school holidays.

The Children's Holiday Food Programme is funded by Glasgow City Council and delivered by charities, third sector organisations and community groups.

The council has dished out £3.7m since the programme was introduced in Summer 2018 to help address poverty in the city - specifically children's holiday hunger.

The programme complements existing activities already in place by third sector organisations, with the majority of council funds going towards provision of food.

Last year, almost twenty thousand children and young people participated in the events and projects being served in every ward of the city.

Glasgow City Treasurer, Councillor Allan Gow, said: "This is fantastic news. Our Children's Holiday Food Programme is making a real difference to the lives of hundreds of families and the health of thousands of children.

"This is an invaluable service for families in Glasgow.  Many struggle to feed their children, let alone during school holidays.

"By being able to provide third sector organisations with the means to deliver a continued programme of fun packed projects, we're seeing a real difference in the lives and well-being of so many youngsters.

"While our holiday food programme focuses on the provision of food, feedback shows that is brings with it a host of other benefits from socialising more, exploring new foods, eating healthy food, learning cooking skills, being more active and interacting with other children and their peers.

"We remain committed to tackling food poverty and look forward to working with third sector organisations to deliver this invaluable programme again this year."

All organisations to receive money from the Glasgow Holiday Food Programme 2020/2021 will be monitored by the council's grant fund arrangements to ensure their projects stay on track.

The Glasgow Holiday Food Programme runs in the Spring, Summer, October and February school breaks.

The full report to the City Administration Committee can be found here: Glasgow Children's Holiday Food Programme 2020/21