Insight
Holiday hunger was a major problem in Wales long before Covid 19. The number of people using foodbanks in Wales was increasing in the years prior to the pandemic with demand surging during the school holidays when many families lost access to Free School Meals.
Idea
Research undertaken by the Bevan Foundation through funding donated by our supporters explored solutions to holiday hunger. One of our recommendations was to increase funding to food and fun schemes, such as the School Holiday Enrichment Programme (SHEP). SHEP is a quality-assured scheme that includes breakfast, lunch, physical activity, food and nutrition skills education and enrichment activities, that is provided on a universal basis in some of Wales’ most deprived areas. The available evidence suggested that the scheme was having a positive impact on both children and their parents, and we called on the Welsh Government to increase their funding.
Impact
The Welsh Government recently announced that they are going to be doubling the funding that is made available for SHEP to £4.9m. This will lead to thousands more children and their parents being able to benefit from what the scheme has to offer, reducing the prevalence of holiday hunger in our communities.
