Our summer provision in 2020 was, obviously, extremely high as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, we had hoped that with the reduction in the number of COVID-19 cases and the ability of many to return to work, combined with the Governments holiday activities and food programme, we would see a reduction in our normal year-on-year provision during the school summer holidays.
Sadly, this was not the case and the number of children receiving emergency Foodbank provision has risen once more, from 550 children in 2019 to 592 children over the summer of 2021*.
These numbers have grown despite the Governments provision of two supermarket vouchers, providing a total of £50.00 worth of food to families over the summer, and their activity scheme which saw free places being offered to low-income families on holiday clubs and events over the August period.
In speaking with families using Cirencester Foodbank’s service, we have discovered a number of factors that have meant they still need food provision despite the Government’s scheme. These have included:
- Most holiday & activity programmes not providing breakfast or lunches, meaning children still go hungry.
- Lack of access to a vehicle / poor rural transport links preventing children from getting to activity centres
- Low IT knowledge and skills preventing them from accessing and changing bookings online
- Activity centres for different ages being significant distances away from one another, resulting in families with children in different school key stages needing to travel to different towns and villages.
Such barriers keep families locked in a cycle of needing the support of organisations like Cirencester Foodbank. It is our hope that working with partner organisations, our volunteers and our supporters, we can help resolve issues such as these and help those in our communities break free from food poverty.
*The school holiday period in 2020 saw exceptional numbers of children being supported as a result of school closures and a lack of free school meal provision, resulting in 882 children being supported over the holiday period.