02 March 2023 , 00:01
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EastEnders star Michelle Collins will today deliver a petition to Downing Street demanding free school meals for all primary school pupils.
The soap legend qualified for free school dinners as a child but her single mum often worked three jobs so she and her sister could be spared the stigma.
Michelle, 60, said all children should get a nutritious meal at school regardless of background as she echoes mounting calls for the Tories to feed more hungry kids.
Pupils living in Universal Credit families are eligible if their parents earn less than £7,400-a-year from work.
The Mirror and the National Education Union (NEU) are calling on the Government to extend the benefit to all primary school children in England, in line with commitments in Scotland and Wales.
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An estimated 800,000 children in England who are living in poverty miss out on free school meals (Getty Images/iStockphoto)Under current rules, 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.
This leaves an estimated 800,000 children living in poverty but who do not qualify for free school meals.
Michelle will join campaigners from Barnardos to deliver a petition calling for change to No10, which has been signed by more than 32,000 people.
She said: “As a child of a single parent mother, my sister and I were eligible for free school meals, but it was a separate queue in the seventies, and kids were made to feel humiliated.
"So, my mum decided she wouldn’t put us through that, and she managed to get the money together. She often had three jobs going at one time. I think sadly there is still a stigma around free school meals.
"I think it should just be universal free school meals so, for whatever reason parents can’t pay, everyone is treated the same - no questions asked."
Barnardo’s Chief Executive Lynn Perry said: “It is unacceptable that children are going hungry in a country which has the sixth largest economy in the world.
"The cost-of-living crisis is driving more and more families into poverty, and we know from our frontline work that this will affect children now and long into the future.
"Not having enough to eat can affect children’s growth, make it difficult to focus at school and harm their future life opportunities.
"Whether children have enough to eat shouldn’t be determined by their postcode. That is why we are calling on the Government to introduce free school meals for all primary school children in England, to support struggling families across the UK, and to do more to tackle hunger during the school holidays.”
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