Larne Foodbank: Holiday Hunger Scheme aims to support parents while school is out

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Larne Foodbank is reminding the local community of a scheme that aims to support parents during school holidays.

The foodbank, part of the Trussell Trust network, has a warehouse, store and office based in Craigyhill Methodist Church, alongside three distribution sessions on Tuesdays, 1-3pm; Wednesdays, 5-6:30pm, and Fridays, 10am-12pm.

It also has a distribution session operating from First Larne Presbyterian on Saturday mornings from 9am - 11am.

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In its July newsletter, the Larne Foodbank team highlighted how the long summer holidays in Northern Ireland could be a difficult time for many families. "With the kids at home, their already stretched finances are stretched even further and many will fall into hardship and have to face difficult decisions,” the newsletter notes.

Larne Foodbank, part of the UK-wide Trussell Trust network, has a warehouse, store and office based in Craigyhill Methodist Church.  Photo: Larne FoodbankLarne Foodbank, part of the UK-wide Trussell Trust network, has a warehouse, store and office based in Craigyhill Methodist Church.  Photo: Larne Foodbank
Larne Foodbank, part of the UK-wide Trussell Trust network, has a warehouse, store and office based in Craigyhill Methodist Church. Photo: Larne Foodbank

“Northern Ireland is now the only part of the UK where summer holiday support is not available and families receive no help with food costs for their children, who would otherwise receive a meal at school.”

NI families were previously able to avail of a school holiday food grant up until April 2023, after which the Department of Education indicated the grants could no longer be made.

The Trussell Trust NI reported that it gave out 49 percent more food parcels to families in July and August 2023, after the grant was dropped, than it did in the year before.

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"Many families have no option but to turn to a foodbank like ours for support to simply feed their children during the summer,” Larne Foodbank added.

"Thanks to the amazing generosity of local people, charities, organisations, businesses and churches, [we have] the resources to step in and plug the gap. We have a School’s Out Holiday Hunger Scheme in place to help out parents by providing items that are most suitable to feeding children during the holidays, as well as providing some additional fresh items such as bread, milk, cheese, spread and yoghurts.

"Larne Foodbank is dedicated to ensuring that no one in the Larne area needs to go to bed hungry.”

Meanwhile, the foodbank revealed that 18.970kg of food had been donated and 20.104kg of food issued from April 2023 to March 2024. “We are continually humbled by the generosity and kindness of those who get behind us in supporting those who are faced with food poverty in our community,” the team said.

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