Marcus Rashford's message to Leeds Council, Asda and DPD volunteers helping keep kids fed over Christmas

The England and Manchester United star, who has been running a high profile campaign to tackle child food poverty, said the volunteers were "brilliant".

Volunteers from Leeds City Council, Asda and DPD have been working to ensure children who are eligible for free school meals get them over the festive period.

On December 1, the council announced that they had committed to providing free meals over the Christmas break and February half-term.

The authority was allocated £2.84 million as part of the Covid Winter Grant Fund and they said that £1.6 million of that was going to be set aside to provide free school meals to over 34,000 children estimated to live in poverty across the city.

Rashford said on Twitter that although he thought such efforts shouldn't have to happen, they were "vital" nonetheless.

He wrote: "Although this shouldn’t have to happen this is vital and all the volunteers here should be very proud of themselves.

"You have no idea the difference this will make to families. Brilliant."

Catering Leeds, part of Leeds City Council, have begun work with Asda to pack thousands of food hampers which will then be delivered directly to the homes of children by DPD.

All children who receive free school meals during term time are eligible, but schools will be able to ask for additional money to support families who are not eligible for free school meals but who they assess to be living in poverty.

Councillor Jonathan Pryor, Leeds City Council’s executive member for learning, skills and employment said: “We know that this year remains incredibly difficult for many families in Leeds and we are committed to supporting our most vulnerable residents as we battle through this uncertain winter period.

"No family should have to worry about providing food for their children during school holidays and we hope that by providing free meals we will be easing the pressure on some of our most vulnerable families at the end of what has been a tough year for us all.”

Local authorities were able to choose how they spent the money as long as it supports those most in need with the cost of food, energy (heating, cooking and lighting), water bills and other essentials.

The funds must be spent between December 2020 and March 2021.

Kloe Tegg, Asda’s Fight Hunger Manager said: “Supporting the most vulnerable in our communities is something that’s really important to Asda and delivering food to those in need is more important than ever, after what has been a difficult year for so many families.

"As part of our Fight Hunger Create Change programme, we’ve committed to providing 1 million meals to families across the UK over the festive period, but we wanted to go further which is why we are proudly supporting Leeds City Council to deliver free meals to children throughout the festive holidays and beyond.

"I’m incredibly proud of how teams all across Asda have come together to be able to support and volunteer for this fantastic initiative which will deliver thousands of meals across the city, I know that these parcels will make such a difference to so many families.”

Leeds Labour Councillor for Headingley and Hyde Park, Jonathan Pryor, went to see the volunteers in action on Saturday.

He tweeted: "Been out to see the amazing work being done to make sure that all free school meals kids get food over Christmas!

"Each is for one child. Inspirational to see, so pleased we could do this, and great to work with both Asda and DPD!"

In addition to the food hampers, the Healthy Holidays programme, run by Leeds Community Foundation in partnership with Leeds City Council and other organisations, will also continue to operate through school holidays.

This programme provides children and families with access to meals and activities during the holidays.

Since April, the programme has provided just under 130,000 portions of food to children and their families, alongside online activities, face-to-face activities, and activity packs delivered to their homes.

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