Children and young people in Lewisham are going hungry with more and more living in food insecure households, with parents skipping meals and not knowing where their children’s next meal will come from. This is why we are calling on Lewisham Council to introduce Universal Free School Meals for all primary and secondary school children. It is a vital safety net for child health.

School food is critical for children and young people so they can grow healthily and reach their full potential in education. This is not happening. Instead, the current system means children receiving free school meals suffer the stigma of poverty. Children whose parents have income above the means tested threshold of £7,400 get into ‘dinner debts’ because they can’t afford to buy food at school. Young people on free school meals share their food with kids who are above the threshold. Teachers feed hungry children and schools are setting up foodbanks for their families. The government 'safety nets' for child nutrition such as Healthy Start and Holiday Activities and Food Programmes are inadequate and do not support 'working poor' families. We need universal programmes so children feel well-nourished and can reach their potential.

Already SE London’s paediatric hospital wards have children with rickets and scurvy. These are diseases of malnutrition and poverty. Susan Jebb the Head of the Food Standards Agency has said that the crisis in school food will create a public health crisis. UN Special Rapporteur on Right to Food Michael Fakhri recommends Universal free school meals and stated “School Kitchens are the heart of the community so when you provide Universal Free School Meals you’re feeding the community”.

Before the cost-of-living crisis, 37% of children in Lewisham were living in poverty and around 20.7% of residents earned below the Living Wage.

We need our council to listen and stand by the children and young people in this borough. Already five London boroughs provide universal free school meals to primary children with, so far, one planning to provide these for secondary school children next year. We implore Lewisham to join these boroughs and put the health of our children first by providing universal free school meals for all primary and secondary school children.

We need 8000 signatures for the council to discuss providing universal free school meals for all primary and secondary children. Please sign and share this petition if you live/work or are in education in Lewisham

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