The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, has today announced plans to extend funding to his free holiday meals programme, helping hundreds of thousands of London families struggling with the

cost-of-living crisis.

The Mayor is proposing to spend £4m in his 2024/25 budget to continue the programme that provides free meals to families during schools holidays and at weekends.

This will extend a partnership with the Mayor’s Fund for London and The Felix Project that has helped to deliver more than 10.1m free meals to families across the capital since April 2023.

The move follows a historic announcement last week that Sadiq is proposing to continue providing free school meals for another year from September for London’s state primary schoolchildren.

Sadiq’s action comes as polling from YouGov, commissioned by City Hall, found that more than a third (35 per cent) of parents or carers of children under 18 are buying less food and essentials, with 41 per cent using less water, energy or fuel to help them manage living costs. Three in ten (30 per cent) say they are ‘financially struggling’.

In April the Mayor announced £3.5m in emergency funding to provide free meals to hundreds of thousands of Londoners during the school holidays and weekends over a 12-month period due to the cost-of-living crisis. Since then, more than 10.1m meals have been provided, with more than a million more expected to be given out by the end of the March.

The Mayor’s proposed £4m extension announced today will help the Mayor’s Fund for London and The Felix Project continue to reach low-income families and young people with ready-made and cook-at-home meals, with The Felix Project also delivering surplus food from a range of suppliers to nearly 1,000 charity organisations and schools, and The Mayor’s Fund providing free healthy meals through more than 340 community partners and 90 Kitchen Social hubs alongside a range of school holiday activities. These also help to provide constructive activities for young people, tackling isolation and helping them learn about health and nutrition.

Sadiq’s free holiday meals funding is a key part of his programme to support Londoners with the cost-of-living crisis, alongside his unprecedented proposed £140m to continue funding universal free school meals for state primary schoolchildren in the capital for 2024/2025.

Sadiq’s free school meals funding is a key part of his programme to support Londoners with the cost-of-living crisis. That includes investing £3.46bn into building the genuinely affordable homes Londoners need and £400m on skills and employment programmes to support Londoners to find more secure work, as well as more than £80m to help those struggling with the rising cost of living to tackle fuel poverty, supporting private renters, connecting Londoners to welfare advice and tackling food insecurity. The Mayor has also provided an emergency funding package of more than £3.5m that has helped to provide more then 10m free meals during school holidays and at weekends to low-income Londoners struggling with the spiralling cost of living since April.

The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan said: “I’m immensely proud that our funding for free holiday meals has already helped to deliver more than 10m free meals to hundreds of thousands of London families and young people. Londoners continue to struggle with the cost-of-living crisis with families worrying about how to feed their children, which is why I’m stepping in with a proposed £4m funding to deliver these vital meals for another year. By helping to provide healthy meals alongside activities for young people during school holidays, we’re building a fairer and better London for all.”

Charlotte Hill OBE, CEO of The Felix Project said: “We know free holiday meal provision is vital, the same as free school meals for so many children it is the only way they are guaranteed to get a delicious healthy meal during the school holidays. We are therefore delighted that the Mayor has announced plans to extend funding to his free holiday meals programme. If this money comes through it will ensure The Felix Project, alongside Mayor’s Fund for London can continue to provide food to children and their families across the capital well into 2025.”

Jade Harris, Head of Food and Communities, Mayor's Fund for London, said: “This second year of funding from the Mayor of London will  ensure hundreds of thousands of children have access to nutritious food and wrap around support in the school holidays, as community partners and families continue to struggle with the rising cost-of-living and food costs. This funding provides not only nutritious meals but life changing skills and activities to young people, teaching them how to prepare healthy food on a budget and providing free activities to support their physical and mental wellbeing. As one of our community partners told us, being able to offer food to young people ‘makes them happy and allows them to achieve more’. You can’t underestimate the power of a hot meal.” Photo by Chabad Lubavitch, Wikimedia commons.