The families facing a food crisis in school holidays | Letters

Andrew Forsey urges the government to restore the link between free school meals and the holiday activities and food programme There are 500,000 children growing up in poorer families who are confronted by a similarly cruel cliff edge to the one covered by your article ( Chancellor urged to fix £100k childcare ‘cliff edge’ that prompts parents to cut work, 10 September ).

It is this group of children who, having recently become eligible for means-tested free school meals during term time, are disqualified from accessing the holiday activities and food (HAF) programme. While the government has rightly acknowledged the need for those children to receive extra help during term time, it has somehow reached the decision that this need does not extend into the school holidays. HAF is a terrific programme providing nutritious meals, enriching activities and free childcare for many families. Since…