Coronavirus: Schools give emergency food to families

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Coronavirus: Schools give emergency food to families with nothing to eat



Some deprived families are running out of food because of delays in receiving free school meal vouchers under
the government's scheme in England, say school leaders. Some schools are supplying emergency food parcels
or buying their own vouchers for desperate families. Parents say they are waiting up to 10 days for the government
vouchers. The Department for Education said it was providing extra cash for schools facing "unavoidable costs".



The schools
At St Richard's Catholic Primary School in Chichester parishioners raised more than £3,000 to support families
whose livelihoods have collapsed under the lockdown.

Head teacher James Field says the school used the money to buy its own vouchers from local supermarkets
and he personally delivered them to families.

The parents
School lunch assistant Vorona, lives in a room in a shared south London house with her six-year-old daughter.

She eventually managed to download and spend the first £15 voucher at the end of last week but her attempts
to download the second have so far been unsuccessful - the screen freezes and she has to start again.



Another problem is the limited selection of supermarkets included in the scheme. The nearest is Morrisons -
a bus ride away.

Vorona has asthma and being at high risk from coronavirus means she is scared to go out, let alone get on a bus.


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