SADLY we have now closed the This is it, Holiday Hunger Project. Running from Easter 2018 to Easter 2022 we have now lost the home we used to give the packed lunches from. As we don’t have a home there any more, we can’t as strangers to the street, continue to hand food out to children we don’t know.
The history: It started as a conversation about need in the community. The project was designed to start a conversation between the residents to see what they saw as problems the community had and how these problems could be solved. Out of this project came a desire that all children on the street be seen as equal and have access to a lunch during the school holidays. Often missed by the other Holiday meal projects or some of a large family would be offered and not others. This was seen as unacceptable. Most of the families are low income and some have large families. So even if parents would make sure they had a meal, this project helps with the family budget.
So the Holiday Hunger project was born. To start with about 12 children were fed with a packed lunch, 3 days a week in the holidays. This number has now grown to 39 this half term (spring half-term 2020). No child is turned away. Each child comes and receives a sandwich, a piece of fruit, fruit juice and a packet of crisps. It may not sound much but often they knock on asking if its a project week, even in school term time. The Booth Charity sponsored us last year which has enabled us to improve the quality of food given. i.e. real cheese slices and fruit juice not squash.
At Christmas time 2019, the veterans very kindly collected presents for all the children, so the had a special food parcel for Christmas day and a carrier bag with at least 3 presents inside to make sure that no child had a Christmas day with out presents.