A supermarket initiative providing £1 school holiday meals for youngsters is being extended for the rest of the year amid the cost of living crisis.
The offer at Asda cafes allows under-16s to receive a low-cost meal, and was originally due to run until the start of the new term but will now remain in place for the rest of 2022.
Representatives of the company, which has seven branches across Lanarkshire, say the move is “due to demand” and responds to their research showing that the average household is now £175 per month worse off than 12 months ago.
Children’s meals for £1 are available daily during cafe opening hours at each store, with no minimum adult spend required.
Figures from the supermarket’s own income tracker show that “20 per cent of UK households now have negative disposable income because their take-home pay no longer covers spending on essentials such as groceries, energy bills, transport costs, mortgage or rent.”
Asda acting chief customer officer Sam Dickson said: “We know things are tough for many families – this makes it harder to find the money to go on holiday or keep the kids entertained while they are off school, [and] we’ve launched the Essential Living hub to help them through the holidays.”
The new money-saving website includes “a wide range of tips which go beyond the weekly food shop, covering how to save energy, budget better, buy and cook smarter, entertain the kids for free and even eat out without paying a penny”.
Asda’s research revealed that 78 per cent of parents said they would be “struggling to afford” holiday activities such as day trips, cinema visits and eating out and would need to cut back, with two-thirds planning to take on extra work to help towards the cost.
Cost of living advice will be available at a special event being run in Airdrie next month by local politicians Neil Gray MSP and Anum Qaisar MP in response to the pressures being felt by constituents as the result of soaring prices.
Support organisations including Coatbridge foodbank and Diamonds in the Community have also reported increasing demand for their services in recent months.
Foodbank volunteers last month had to launch a crisis appeal to restock their shelves following a huge increase in referrals, while Diamonds described June as their “busiest ever month” and have launched a free swap shop for football boots, school shoes and winter jackets.
Meanwhile, North Lanarkshire Council is again operating its free Club 365 holiday food and activities programme, which runs seven days per week throughout the school holidays at 18 venues across the authority area.
Sessions run from 11.30am to 1.30pm daily and are open to primary pupils who are entitled to free school meals with no booking required.
This year’s hub venues are St Dominic’s Primary in Airdrie; St Mary’s Primary in Caldercruix; Coatbridge primaries St Augustine’s and Old Monkland; Chryston High; Motherwell FC and local schools St Bernadette’s Primary and both Braidhurst and Brannock high schools; Made For You in ML2 and nearby Wishaw venues Berryhill and Orchard primaries; Getting Better Together in Shotts; Abronhill and Carbrain primaries in Cumbernauld; Kilsyth Primary, Sacred Heart Primary in Bellshill and St John Paul II Primary in Viewpark.
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