Food banks are the only place some children eat a good meal in the holidays | Julie Coates

‘Holiday hunger’ means charities are stepping in to replace free school meals outside term time. Without us, struggling families go hungry

• Julie Coates is manager of Hailsham food bank, East Sussex

When politicians talk about holiday hunger, they always make it seem like an abstract idea; a recent report, for instance, talked of up to 3 million children at risk of being “exposed to hunger”. But running a food bank, I’ve seen first-hand exactly what going hungry in the holidays is really like.

Tracy* tells me that every day is a struggle to get by. Each of her three children has learning difficulties and they need constant supervision. The food bank is a godsend for her – the children eat things they wouldn’t normally eat and get a good, nutritious meal in a safe space.

Related: Holiday hunger: the charities offering poorer families a lifeline

Seeing the impact of our work is amazing, but it does make me wonder what struggling families would do without us

Related: How to set up a food bank in your local community

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from Children | The Guardian http://ift.tt/2vElQy7