A mum has been forced to cut back on her own food so her kids can eat during the cost-of-living crisis.
Kalli Speariett's family are feeling the pinch of rising costs and are having to find different ways to manage.
With a household income of around £18,000, every penny is being stretched, meaning both Kalli and her husband are sacrificing their own meals to feed their two children.
Kallie helped to set up a food pantry for other struggling families in the Clubmoor area of Liverpool, Merseyside, and told BBC Radio 4 about the need to extend free school meals to more households amid soaring inflation and energy costs.
She and her partner both work part-time and top up their wages with Universal Credit.
However, they earn above the threshold to qualify for free school meals for their kids, Liverpool Echo reports.
There are growing calls for the government to extend free school meals to all families on Universal Credit amid the current cost of living squeeze.
Celebrity chef Jamie Oliver has spoken out on this and is backing the Feed the Future campaign for free school meals to be extended to around 800,000 more children who are "the most vulnerable in society".
Kalli said free school meals for her children would be a big deal for her family as they battle crippling costs.
"We have to do packed lunches, we couldn't afford to pay for school meals, that's £5 a day to come out of our family budget, that would be £25 a week and we can do packed lunches for a lot less," she said.
"When I look at friends who have got similar aged children who are completely on benefits, me and my husband actually both work part-time, they actually end up with more disposable income at the end of the month than we do.
"Having (free) school meals for the children would make such a huge impact for us, it's not just about the meals, it also puts more money into the school and makes our children eligible for things like holiday clubs.
"I would know they have had a really good meal at lunch time, so when things are really tight, it means we could do a smaller meal at tea time, which would help with our family budget."
Asked about what she is cutting back on during the cost of living crisis, Kallie added: "I'm cutting back on what I feed myself and my husband, I'm trying not to cut back on what we feed the children, obviously it might get to that point as it gets colder and we are putting the heating on more - if I knew they had had a good meal at school it would be really helpful."
