Hundreds of vulnerable children will be kept fit and fed in the next school year after a Renfrewshire charity secured £70,000 to deliver lifeline support.
St Mirren Charitable Foundation has this week been named the winner of the People’s Project and the funding needed to launch its 2023/24 Fit and Fed initiative.
The programme will see in excess of 500 children from across Renfrewshire offered food and physical activities in every school holiday of the next academic year.
A nationwide contest launched by the National Lottery’s People’s Project saw 15 organisations go head to head to win enough votes to take the grant.
And the Paisley-based charity turned out on top by taking most votes – over 2,000 in total.
Gayle Brannigan, chief executive of St Mirren FC Charitable Foundation, said the whole organisation was thrilled to have won the backing of so many people up and down the country – but, more importantly, in their own backyard.
She told the Paisley Daily Express: “The team worked so hard on what was a really well thought-out campaign.
“All the team, staff and volunteers at the foundation, and the support we had from the club, the fans and the whole community and partners has been outstanding; everyone bought into it from day one of two-week voting period. It has been very humbling and we are very grateful.”
She added: “Everyone bought into the ethos of what we are trying to achieve with fit and fed – a simple concept that will be so impactful and so necessary. Rising levels of child poverty is something that is at the forefront of our minds for some time now.
“We have so many good people out there trying to get to do their best by their families but are having to choose between feeding themselves or their children.
“It shouldn’t be this way but we are fortunate in that in Renfrewshire we have great organisations that are doing great work to support people.
“We want to get that message out there to people, there is help available.”
Fit and Fed will see around 500 children invited to attend school holiday camps with the foundation where they will be offered nutritious food at breakfast and lunch times.
Kickstarting in October, the children will have the opportunity to take part in football and other activities.
And unlike some other initiatives which tackle holiday hunger outwith school, Fit and Fed aims to help parents address concerns around financial hardship wherever possible.
Parents and carers will be welcome to attend some of the activities aimed at the family unit and will be invited to attend workshops which will look at issues such as employability, household budgeting, cooking nutritious food on a shoestring and how to look after their mental health.
Staff will also be able to signpost adults to other support services if needed – both those offered by the charity itself as well as their partners such as Advice Works, community pantries and food banks.
For more information on the foundation, as well as the support it offers families and individuals all year round, see the charity’s Facebook page.
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