Northampton College pledges to continue free meals for students during summer holidays

A college in Northampton has pledged to continue free meals for students during the summer holidays.

Northampton College has provided the 349 eligible 16-18-year-olds with meal vouchers alternatives throughout the pandemic and has now confirmed this will continue until September.

The Government was forced into a U-turn on its decision not to provide free lunch vouchers to school pupils during August following a campaign led by Manchester United and England footballer Marcus Rashford, but the scheme only supports students up to the age of 16.

Northampton College had already pledged to continue to fund the meals by sending out a £200 cheque to the most vulnerable families, which will cost a total of £69,800.

Mark Owen, Assistant Principal for Student Services at Northampton College, said: “Throughout the COVID-19 outbreak we have been committed to supporting the most vulnerable members of our society.

“We have already distributed £400 in cheques to families eligible for free meals and they will be receiving a third cheque for a further £200 shortly to help them throughout the summer holidays.

“The financial impact of this pandemic on households across the country has been immense and, as the college in the community, we are determined to do all we can to help ease the burden on those under-pressure families and feed out most vulnerable learners throughout the summer.

“Marcus Rashford’s campaign has inspired change in the corridors of power at Westminster. We had already taken the decision to run our own scheme for our 16 to 18-year-old learners throughout the holidays as we overwhelmingly felt it was the right and proper thing to do.”

Northampton College’s scheme, which runs until September 4, will be funded from the existing discretionary budget it receives from the Department for Education for offering free meals.

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