LOCKDOWN LEADER: Co-op
Co-op CEO Steve Murrells has sent an open letter to Prime Minister Boris Johnson insisting that children eligible for government funded free school meals are not left hungry this half term.
“Dear, Prime Minister, I am writing to you, as a matter of urgency…” So begins the letter the Co-op CEO Steve Murrells has sent to Number 10, informing Boris Johnson that the Co-op is to extend its free school meal scheme through the October half term to its 25 Co-op Academies – and asking Johnson to do the same for all schools across England. “We simply cannot let any child go hungry.”
The move follows an earlier drive this May in which the Co-op announced it would be providing free meals to eligible pupils through a gift card scheme, after asking the Government to guarantee school reimbursement. Some 1.3m pupils were – and are – eligible for free school meals but because of the school closures, many families were finding it difficult to provide nutritious meals for them. Through the Co-op’s gift card scheme, which ran parallel to the Government’s allowance of £15 a week per pupil for free school meals, the 6,500 students at the Co-op Academies, who qualified for free school meals, received vouchers worth £15 to spend in Co-ops for every week the schools were closed.
Said Michael Fletcher, Co-op’s Chief Commercial Officer: “Our store colleagues have rolled their sleeves up to feed the nation and we think it’s important that vulnerable children who are eligible for free school meals don’t go hungry. We are delighted to be able to help and support the schools and children in the communities we serve.”
Five months on, with the end of the Pandemic apparently nowhere in sight, summer jobs lost, and whatever savings family families had have long gone, the Co-op – also a leading member of Marcus Rashford’s Child Food Poverty Taskforce – has once again stepped in. As Murrells says, “We stand on the shoulders of giants – our founders, the Rochdale Pioneers, were world-changers 175 years ago. They used business to create real change for everyday people. But the responsibility is now with me and my colleagues.”
Noting that his business had its roots in the North of England (large parts of which are currently subject to the third-tier), Murrells told the Prime Minister he could see “first-hand the acute challenges faced by vulnerable children and their families. The need faced is more serious for families now than it was in the summer… As a nation, we must step in and provide support to the communities who most need it”. This time, the Co-op is providing vouchers worth £20 – “More than the £15 allocated in the summer, because we believe it is simply the right thing to do.”
However, as Murrells also notes, “There are more than 1.4 million children in England alone, who are in desperate need of support this half term. The fact that the Co-op support can only reach 5000 deeply concerns me. I urge you to reconsider the government's position and ensure that this half term vulnerable families can afford to feed their children.”
