Free school meals made permanent at nurseries and secondary schools

Westminster City Council has announced its commitment to healthy school food for all to all children in nursery and secondary schools.

Earlier this year, Mayor of London Sadiq Khan pledged to a permanent commitment of free schools meals to all primary school children in London. Westminster City Council will be using this funding with an additional commitment of £1.56million to continue its free school meals for children between the ages of 3 and 14.

Councillor Adam Hug, Leader of Westminster City Council says:

“Free school lunches have offered a lifeline to struggling families during a time of soaring food and energy prices. We want children in Westminster to have the best start in life. Extending our free school lunch offer is an important step in supporting families and ensuring children can focus on their learning.”

“We’ve heard heartbreaking stories of children being sent to school with just a couple of biscuits in their lunchbox. Research shows that a nutritious lunch has enormous benefits for a child’s concentration in the classroom and maximising their learning potential.”

Children’s Food Campaign Officer, Naema Jannath says:

“We applaud Westminster City Council's efforts to ensure children are getting the vital support they need to learn and thrive at school. As well as the mental health support for families with food insecurity concerns. We must do more to ensure every child across the UK has their fundamental right to healthy food met. With a fresh new government in post, there’s no better time to kick off the first term in a positive way by saying yes to healthy school food for all children”

Responding to the news, our Ambassador Alice Holding, parent of a 6 year old says:

“As a parent, it is great to see the many benefits this will bring to children and families in Westminster. It's sad to see the thousands of children across the UK stilling missing out on this crucial support. Our Parent Manifesto calls for a commitment to provide free, healthy, and sustainable meals for all children, from nursery to sixth form. Every child, regardless of their location or socio-economic background, deserves access to nutritious food to support their growth and development.”

Expanding healthy school food for more children is the top priority cited in Our Children, Our Future, our parents' manifesto for healthy children's food. 

Support our parents’ call and add your name to the manifesto