Cash boost for holiday hunger scheme in 2019

Leeds City Council, the Asda Foundation, and Jimbo’s Fund, Leeds, have pledged more than £200,000 to the Leeds Community Foundation so that it can continue running its Healthy Holidays project in 2019. The scheme supports some of the 30,000 schoolchildren in the city who might otherwise go hungry, with the money being focused on the most deprived areas of the city.

Working in partnership with Leeds City Council, the foundation launched the Healthy Holidays campaign early this year. The scheme provided funding for more than 40 projects to run sessions during the school holidays, enabling vulnerable children to have access to food and fun activities, while providing learning and support for families.

Coun Debra Coupar, Leeds City Council, said: “No family should have to worry about being able to provide for their children in the holidays. We were so pleased that the programme has enabled children and their families across the city to have access to more than 4,500 food and activity sessions during the 2018 Easter and Summer holidays. We are delighted, along with the Asda Foundation and Jimbo’s Fund, to be able to support the initiative in 2019. We would encourage other large businesses in the city to lead the way in enabling even more children access to the same opportunities.”

Pip Goff, partnerships director at Leeds Community Foundation, said “Most of these children might otherwise be either doing nothing at home, watching tv, out on the streets or getting bored or potentially getting into trouble. The programme helped reduce the impact of holidays hunger and other pressures in families and increased opportunities and experiences for young people in the areas of greatest need.”