Evening Standard, Independent and London Live’s Appeal supports the Felix Project’s ‘Help a Hungry Child’ programme

This year funds raised by the Evening Standard, The Independent and London Live Christmas Appeal will go to the Felix Project to aid a new programme in primary schools to help channel food directly to those young children and their families who are in the greatest need.

1 in 10 children in the UK are living with parents who struggle to put food on the table, and research shows that if a child arrives at school hungry, they lose one hour of learning time a day. The ‘Help a Hungry Child’ campaign aims to ensure that no child in any school supported by The Felix Project ever goes to bed hungry. At the end of the school day, children and their parents or guardians will be guided to a welcoming Felix ‘market stall’ and be able to fill a Felix bag with a healthy and delicious selection of food to take home.

Hilary Croft, The Felix Project CEO says: “Hungry children are unable to concentrate, get into more trouble and are less likely to learn. This means they start life with a disadvantage. We want to stop the inequality caused by food poverty by giving everyone we support access to fresh, nutritious food for free. We will establish ‘market stalls’ in primary schools, with food that supermarkets and other suppliers can’t sell, even though it’s in-date, safe and fresh.

“Each £1 donated to the Evening Standard and Independent Christmas Appeal will ensure a primary school child and their family has the food needed for a nutritious meal otherwise unavailable to them, and £500 enables each new school to be recruited to the programme. Our simple objective is to ensure no child in any primary school supported by The Felix Project ever goes to bed hungry.”

Daisy Fletcher, Campaign Coordinator, The Evening Standard says: “The Help a Hungry Child appeal starts on November 28^th and will run into the new year. In the coming weeks the Evening Standard will highlight the devastating impact of hunger on families, to broaden the discussion about what government and society can do, and to support the programme of Felix ‘market stalls’ to provide access to surplus food through primary schools.”