Schools offered £1,500 grants to give hungry kids free fruit and veggies

Schools offered £1,500 grants to give hungry kids free fruit and veggies Schools and community groups are being urged to apply for cash grants of £1,500 to fund healthy breakfast clubs and free snack schemes Schools and community groups that support young people can snap up cash grants of up to £1,500 to run their own healthy snack schemes and breakfast clubs. The vital lifeline gives children daily access to fresh or tinned produce without costing hard-up families a penny. The push for applications comes as figures from the British Nutrition Foundation (BNF) reveal a staggering 90pc of 11 to 18-year-olds fail to eat their recommended five a day - a crisis that nutritionist Bridget Benelam warns is "even worse in the most deprived communities." Bridget, a nutritionist at the BNF, told the Daily Mirror that offering free fruit at school removes a financial risk for parents terrified of wasting money on food that gets picked at and binned. "Awareness isn't enough," she explained. "We need to make things easier, because especially for people on the lowest incomes, buying fruit and vegetables is really expensive. "If you're going to try something new and there's a risk it gets rejected and thrown away, that's a really high risk on a tight budget. Communal settings like schools give kids and families a safe space to try things without risking their own cash." Her comments come as data from Tesco's separate Free Fruit & Veg for Schools initiative revealed that 94pc of teachers noticed significant improvements in classroom focus and behaviour after the scheme was rolled out. Teachers are seeing the results firsthand. At Oasis Academy Longcross, based on a housing estate on the outskirts of Bristol, staff say the impact has been transformative. The academy serves as a vital community hub, housing a nursery, primary, special educational needs unit, and health centre on one site. With a high proportion of pupils holding Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs), staff found that regular access to fresh produce was particularly life-changing for neurodivergent children with sensory needs. Through hands-on activities like building fruit kebabs and growing their own vegetables, pupils are gradually expanding their palates. Rebecca Rollings, Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator at the academy, said: "It has opened up huge opportunities to really broaden their diets and that has been one of the most powerful things. "We have children who came in eating very restricted diets, in some cases almost just crackers, who are now eating fruit much more widely. Parents can't believe the change.” Bridget says that overcoming fussy eating is far easier in the classroom, when children are encouraged by their peers. "Even just seeing new foods, touching them, and having that sensory impact can help them overcome that natural fear of new things," she said. Another highlight is that it can reduce consumption of ultra processed snacks, she said, adding: "If they're eating more fruit and veg, and less of the high-fat, salt, and sugar foods, then that's an added benefit. The benefits are also spilling over into the wider community. Excess produce and food hampers are shared with local households struggling with food insecurity. Since its launch, the Free Fruit and Veg for Schools programme has delivered more than 1,500 tonnes of produce. Now in its third year, the initiative has expanded to support more than 1,000 schools, prioritising areas with high rates of free school meals. Now school and youth groups looking to set up or expand their own healthy eating initiatives can apply for funding here.