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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Politics
Lizzy Buchan

Primary pupils beg Rishi Sunak for free school meals for all to help hungry kids

Primary school children have written to Rishi Sunak to beg him to offer free school meals to all pupils so their classmates don't go hungry.

Youngsters from Monksdown Primary School, in Liverpool, put pen to paper to urge the Prime Minister to change strict eligibility rules that mean kids living in poverty miss out.

One pupil, Rylee, said: "Parents might not have the money to pay for food for you. If your brain is hungry you will feel unhappy and tired."

Another, Rachel, said: "We don't have a choice to go to school because it's the law but we have to pay for lunch.

"We at Monksdown Primary want everyone to be healthy and eat as much as they can."

One child, Jonah, told Mr Sunak that millions of people are living in poverty, and asked: "Aren't you going to help?"

Letters from pupils of Monksdown Primary School, in Norris Green Liverpool (Julian Hamilton/Daily Mirror)
Pupils are writing to Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to ask for help for free school meals (Julian Hamilton/Daily Mirror)

Their letters will be handed over to Downing Street on Thursday along with demands to extend the scheme signed by more than 240 community organisations, faith groups, charities and trade unions.

All children in England can get free school meals up to the end of Year 2 but after that it only applies to households on certain benefits.

Pupils living in Universal Credit families are eligible if their parents earn less than £7,400-a-year from work.

Assistant Head Chloe Russell said the pupils wanted to write to Mr Sunak as they were upset and angry about children not getting enough to eat.

She told the Mirror: "We just think it's absolutely beyond awful that in our country it's not a significant enough issue for the Government to make sure the children are being fed."

Around 39% of the pupils at Monksdown Primary School qualify for free school meals but teachers also seen the need to offer breakfast, snacks and to supplement pupils' lunchboxes.

Pupils (L to R): Dawid Krzyżak, 11, Cianne Lowndess, 11, Ameera Awwad, 11 and Kimberley Tierney, 10, from Monksdown Primary School, in Norris Green Liverpool, who are writing to Rishi Sunak about free school meals (Julian Hamilton/Daily Mirror)

Ms Russell said: "We have got such wonderful, amazing parents at our school.

"They're doing their absolute best but you can see they are trying to stretch the food… We want to give them [the pupils] the best possible start in life but they are tired and they're hungry."

Free school meals would be a lifeline for parents as their kids are getting at least one nutritious hot meal every day - and it would help kids who are worried when things are hard at home, she said.

Ms Russell said: "The stress that some of these children are living in - of knowing that they've not been able to eat or knowing that their shoes are hurting but they don't dare tell their mum that they need another pair of shoes because they know they can't afford it, because they've not got enough money for the gas and they're cold.

"It's all that pressure that a child as young as four and five shouldn't be aware of."

The school's local MP Ian Byrne will take the letters to Downing Street on Thursday.

Mr Byrne, Labour MP for Liverpool West Derby, told the Mirror: "It’s imperative that this government and politicians understand 4 million children are going to school hungry as a result of their political choices, we need to look at UFSM as a necessary investment in the future of our children, who are the future of our country.

"The right political choice can not wait a moment longer. UFSM would improve attainment, reduce pressure on teachers, parents, and the NHS, and evidence has shown it could help drive local economies.

"It’s a no brainer this is a transformational investment that we can't afford not to make."

The Mirror and NEU are campaigning for Free School Meals for All.

A Department for Education spokesperson previously said that a third of pupils in England now receive free school meals, compared with one in six in 2010.

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