To help address food poverty, around 200 local breakfast clubs supporting thousands of youngsters will benefit from Lincolnshire Co-op’s Community Champions scheme.
Money raised during spring and summer this year will support the clubs in providing nutritious meals for school children, fuelling them for the day ahead.
The impact of this provision is well documented – a recent National School Breakfast Programme (NSBP) survey revealed 99% of schools noticed a positive impact on readiness to learn at the start of the day.
95% said that it improved healthy eating habits among pupils, and 94% agreed that it also had positive implications on social skills. (Source: NSBP-final-impact-report.pdf (family-action.org.uk) )
The scheme combines the efforts of Lincolnshire Co-op members, as a donation is made by the society every time they use their dividend card, colleagues, who will be leading fundraising activities, and customers, who can drop their change into donation points.
In 2021, Lincolnshire Co-op committed to supporting more than 190 local breakfast clubs for three years, after £221,000 was raised through its Community Champions scheme. 2023-2024 is the last academic year that this money covers, so the society is bringing the community together once again to gather donations which will continue to support this important provision in time for the next academic year.
With cost of living continuing to rise, these benefits are more valuable than ever before, and funding is critical to the clubs’ sustainability moving forward. Rob Litten is the Executive Head Teacher at Park Lane Primary and Nursery School in Whittlesey; a school that has received funding for the past three years through Community Champions, serves 50 children throughout the week, and has now been selected to be a Community Champion once again.
Mr Litten said: “We’re ever so grateful to Lincolnshire Co-op for the generous donations that we have received, and for their ongoing support.
“The breakfast club makes a massive difference to the children; they are warmly welcomed into the school environment, are able to have really supportive relationships with all the staff that they meet and prepare for a really great day at school!”
The breakfast clubs chosen stretch across Lincolnshire Co-op’s trading area, including around 20 in Lincoln, 10 in Boston, Allington & Sedgebook school and Isaac Newton School, Grantham.
Sam Turner, Community Manager at Lincolnshire Co-op, said: “We are excited to be working with our community to support this valuable service once again.
“Eating breakfast has so many developmental benefits and health implications, the thought of a child going hungry in the morning is not one that we are willing to accept.
“The response we received during our last appeal was incredible and led us to a record- breaking total – we’re hoping to make just as much of an impact this time round.”
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