Many low-income families struggle to provide meals during the school holidays. This is especially prevalent in Dundee City where over 1/3 of children are living in poverty. We support projects that are in areas of high multiple deprivation by reaching the most vulnerable children and providing them with a nutritious meal, thus reducing pressure on parents to provide food and boost community cohesion.
Dundee Bairns’ was formed in 2016 by David Dorward, former Chief Executive of Dundee City Council. In October 2015 while attending the annual Rank Foundation Conference, David heard Lindsay Graham speak about her research into holiday hunger while being a Winston Church Fellow.
Holiday hunger is a symptom of child poverty and in Dundee over 8000 children live below the poverty line. David wanted to ensure that Dundee children would be well nourished and ready to learn.
Our core commitment is to reduce the effects of poverty for children in Dundee by trying to tackle the issue of “Holiday Hunger” during the 10 weeks of the school holidays. We support community projects around Dundee that provide activity clubs for children by supplying free lunches/ breakfasts to the clubs, ensuring that the children will receive nutritious and healthy meals.
With the help of many volunteers, Tay Cuisine, schools, holiday projects and charitable funding, Dundee Bairns has delivered over 100,000 meals to children in the City of Dundee in just over 2 years.
