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• Restore the value of the allowance, following years of real-terms cuts • Move as quickly as possible toward the proactive registration of eligible families • Expand the item range, within nutritional guidelines, that can be purchased with an increased weekly allowance

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Feeding Britain recently joined BBC Politics North to discuss how Healthy Start could better support eligible families. We are calling for three reforms to maximise the effectiveness of Healthy Start in the months ahead:

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Healthy Start can make a real difference to families with very young children who are struggling with the cost of food. Too many people are still missing out on the support they are entitled to.

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Petition for the Holiday Activities and Food programme - keep the link with Free School Meals

We’re calling on the Government to extend HAF eligibility in line with Free School Meal eligibility, so that more children and young people can access support during the school holidays. Add your voice here: docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...

docs.google.com

Join our campaign urging the UK Government to ensure that children and young people, who are eligible for income-based Free School Meals (FSM), are not denied vital access to the Holiday Activities an...

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Feeding Britain @feedingbritain.org · 17/09/2026

No child should be going hungry during the school holidays. Thank you to Kim Johnson MP for Liverpool Riverside for highlighting how unacceptable it is that children and young people are still going without the food they need during the holidays.

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Our National Director has written to @theguardian.com about the cliff edge facing families earning as little as £7,500 a year who, despite now qualifying for free school meals, will be unable to access the vital support of the HAF programme. Read more here: www.theguardian.com/society/2026...

A framed screenshot that reads: The families facing a food crisis in school holidays. Andrew Forsey urges the government to restore the link between free school meals and the holiday activities and food programme.

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Feeding Britain @feedingbritain.org · 14/09/2026

We’re very grateful for the support of MPs and peers from both houses who recognise the importance of extending HAF eligibility in line with Free School Meal eligibility so as to avoid creating two tiers of child poverty in England.

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Feeding Britain @feedingbritain.org · 14/09/2026

Huge thank you to Sharon Hodgson MP for supporting our cause to extend HAF eligibility in order to ensure no child goes hungry during the school holidays. You can add your voice here: docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...

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Feeding Britain @feedingbritain.org · 11/09/2026

Feeding Britain’s Chair, Professor Greta Defeyter OBE @livinghealthy007.bsky.social and National Director, Andrew Forsey OBE, share their thoughts on the importance of our petition outside 10 Downing Street. You can add your voice to our cause here: docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...

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We look forward to this issue being raised again in Parliament in the weeks leading up to the Budget.

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A big thank you to Kim Johnson MP for raising this issue in Parliament today. If the link is broken between term time free school meal eligibility and HAF eligibility in the school holidays, this will result in two tier child poverty in England.

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Between now and the Budget, we will keep asking the Government to do the right thing by the hundreds of thousands children and young people who stand to miss out on vital HAF support if the link is broken.

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Thank you so much to the thousands of people who have signed our petition and to the dozens of parliamentarians who have written in support of the petition.

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Today, we have delivered a message to the Prime Minister at 10 Downing Street; do not break the link between Free School Meals eligibility in term time and HAF during school holidays.

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...Yet, more than 500,000 children and young people who are now eligible for free school meals, will not be eligible for HAF. This is unjust and we are calling on the UK Government to keep the link in place.

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Feeding Britain @feedingbritain.org · 09/09/2026

Thank you to everyone who has supported our campaign so far. Today, we will be handing in our petition with all your signatures to 10 Downing Street. Eligibility for HAF has always been based on free school meals...

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The evidence across young people, housing and community support all points the same way. It was a privilege to hear speakers from Stoke on Trent Foodbank who shared their lived experiences, as well as Johanna Baxter MP and DWP Minister Baroness Sherlock.

A sign for the “Living Costs in Context reception – Voices from the frontline,” hosted by the APPG on Ending the Need for Food Banks. It describes evidence from frontline organisations, researchers and policy partners on the systems driving hunger and hardship, with logos of partner organisations including Feeding Britain.

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Feeding Britain @feedingbritain.org · 09/09/2026

This report is clear that hardship is not inevitable. Effective preventative measures can end mass dependence on food banks: adequate incomes, secure housing and accessible, cash-first crisis support are what that looks like in practice, and they cost less than crisis.

Two photos from the Living Costs in Context reception in Parliament. Speakers address an audience from a lectern alongside an APPG on Ending the Need for Food Banks banner and presentation screen.

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Feeding Britain @feedingbritain.org · 09/09/2026

We were pleased to attend the Food Banks APPG reception yesterday to mark the publication of the Hardship in the UK report which was developed in partnership with Trussell, IFAN and others to better understand the drivers of hardship and inform action to reduce the need for charitable food aid.

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Petition for the Holiday Activities and Food programme - keep the link with Free School Meals

Feeding Britain is calling for the link to be restored so that every child who qualifies for free school meals can benefit from HAF. Sign the petition and help us make HAF available to every child who qualifies for Free School Meals: docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...

docs.google.com

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Providers are then left to check eligibility and explain why some children can no longer access places they may have attended before. Keeping HAF linked to free school meal eligibility would remove this unnecessary confusion and make it easier for families to access support.

Text explains that families whose children receive free school meals during term time will understandably expect the same support during the holidays. It says keeping HAF linked to free school meal eligibility would remove unnecessary confusion for families, schools, councils and HAF providers, while helping ensure children do not miss out on support.

Feeding Britain campaign call to action asking people to sign the petition calling on the Government to expand HAF eligibility so every child receiving free school meals can benefit all year round. A QR code appears above an illustration of children and an adult taking part in an activity.

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... but many of those same children will not automatically qualify for HAF during the holidays. HAF providers have told us that families understandably expect their children to be eligible, only to find that they may be excluded.

Quote from a HAF club in the East Midlands explaining that many parents believe all children receiving free school meals are automatically eligible for HAF. Families can then discover that their child is excluded despite experiencing hardship and food insecurity.

Quote from a HAF club in Northumberland asking what providers are meant to tell parents who arrive expecting to register. It explains that checking the eligibility of children, including those who have previously attended, will take additional time and money that could instead be spent supporting children.

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Confusion over HAF eligibility is creating more work for providers and putting additional barriers in the way of families who need support. Starting this month, more children will receive Free School Meals during term time...

Green Feeding Britain campaign graphic. Large text reads: “Confusion over HAF eligibility creates more work and unnecessary barriers.” A QR code appears at the bottom left, with an illustration of a child holding their head in their hands.

Text explains that breaking the link between free school meal eligibility and HAF eligibility is creating unnecessary confusion and dividing communities. It says HAF providers will bear the brunt by having to turn some children away and spend valuable time on additional administrative work.

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Feeding Britain is calling for the link between means-tested Free School Meals and HAF eligibility to be restored, so working families can build a financial buffer and have some breathing space.

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But too many children and young people are still missing out. Starting this month, more children and young people will receive Free School Meals during term time, but many of those same children and young people will still be excluded from HAF during the holidays.

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This is why HAF matters. HAF provides nutritious meals and enriching activities during the holidays for children from low-income families. It gives them a safe and enjoyable place to spend their holidays, while helping to relieve some of the financial pressure on families.

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Sign the petition via the link in our bio or here and help us make HAF available to every child who qualifies for Free School Meals: docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...

Text explains that working families are being squeezed by rising living costs, with some parents and carers working multiple jobs while still missing out on HAF because they fall just above the threshold. It says HAF helps children stay active, well fed and safe while enabling parents to continue working without facing impossible childcare costs. Illustration of a child dancing.

Feeding Britain campaign graphic explaining that from September 2026, more children will receive free school meals during term time, but many will still be locked out of HAF during the holidays. Feeding Britain calls for this link to be restored so working families can build a financial buffer. The slide asks people to sign a petition to make HAF available to every child who qualifies for free school meals and includes a QR code.

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From this month, more children will receive Free School Meals during term time, but many of those children will still be locked out of HAF provision. Feeding Britain is calling for that link to be restored so that working families can build a financial buffer and have some breathing space.

Quote from a HAF club in Merseyside: “We had one lady who was over the threshold by 60p. What are you going to buy with 60p? You can’t even get a loaf. It is so common – for every child that we support, there’s another three that [just] miss out.”

Quote from a HAF club in London: “We regularly see families where parents are working long hours… their income does not stretch far enough to cover the additional costs of childcare during school holidays.”

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HAF helps children stay active, well fed and safe during the school holidays, while enabling parents to continue working without facing impossible childcare costs. But too many working families are currently excluded from this support.

Graphic explaining that too many families receiving Universal Credit earn a household income that puts their children above the threshold for a HAF place, even though their children will qualify for free school meals from this month. Illustration of children sitting with an adult reading a book.

Text explains that across England, HAF providers are meeting working families whose wages do not stretch far enough to cover food, bills, holiday activities and childcare, but who are excluded from support. It adds that families struggling enough to require free school meals will still struggle during the school holidays.

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