Hertsmere Borough Council is bringing forward ambitious plans to ensure that every child in the borough who needs a hot meal during the Christmas school holidays will be able to get one for free.
A report laying out details of this new initiative and requesting funds from the council for the transportation and delivery of the free hot meals is to be considered by Hertsmere’s Executive on November 11.
The hot nutritious food, with a different menu every day, will be cooked fresh daily at the new state-of-the-art kitchens of the charitable GMSP Foundation.
The zero waste and self-sustaining kitchen model was originally created in India, providing nutritious lunches from 52 kitchens to more than 1.8 million children in over 19,000 state-run schools every school day.
It has now been recreated in Watford, Hertfordshire, providing a much-needed solution to the recommendations on tackling childhood hunger set out in the National Food Strategy.
There are almost 1,800 Hertsmere children who are eligible for free school meals during term time across the borough and this project will ensure all those youngsters can access hot food delivered to their area when school isn’t sitting after term ends in December.
Hertsmere Borough Council will organise the collection of the meals and ensure their delivery to set locations across the borough for parents and carers to receive and collect.
Leader of Hertsmere Borough Council, councillor Morris Bright MBE said: “While the debate around free school meals for children outside of term time continues, here in Hertsmere we are seeking to act quickly to ensure that planning and preparations get under way now so that our children in need and their families do not have to worry about getting a hot meal during the Christmas holidays.
“I am extremely grateful to the GMSP foundation for their very generous offers of support in looking after Hertsmere’s children. Together we really can make a difference this Christmas.”
A report laying out plans and requesting funds from the council for the transportation and delivery of these free meals for the schoolchildren who need them will come to the Hertsmere Executive on November 11.
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