Supporting schools through the Covid-19 crisis

The economic hardship and school closures caused by Covid-19 will have a potentially devastating impact on the poorest children and young people in our society.

The Sunday Times is working with the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) to help them do all they can to alleviate this in the coming weeks and months. The money you donate will be used to support charities and schools in their efforts to get the best help to those who need it most:

* Working to ensure no child goes hungry.

* Providing practical guidance and resources for home learning.

* Catch-up teaching for children at risk of falling behind.

Please, if you are able to, support us in this endeavour.

The Sunday Times Charity Appeal

Last summer we reported on the plight of children living on London's crime-ridden Broadwater Farm estate . They told us how they spent their school holidays cooped up inside because it was too dangerous to play outside. Without the free school meals provided during term time, many of them also went hungry. Your response to this tragic story was so generous - you donated £350,000 in just a couple of weeks - that we have decided to extend the scheme to other deprived parts of Britain for our Sunday Times Christmas Charity Appeal. Last summer, your generosity gave children who had never had a holiday the chance to go camping, to ride bikes, to go to the zoo and so much more. Most important, it meant their school could stay open, providing food and a safe place to play throughout the holidays .

Our campaign aims to help families in some of the poorest communities in Britain at the time they need it the most. With the money raised, we can provide support throughout the holidays, not only by keeping the schools these children rely on open, but also by funding day trips and expeditions that boost learning. It is, after all, difficult to write a descriptive passage about a wood or a beach if you have never actually been to one.

Blackpool

We launched the appeal in Blackpool, one of the most deprived areas in Britain, where Sharon Hendry met the teachers and parents struggling to give their children a brighter future. We reported on the families your donations will help and the schools not just teaching the three Rs, but also feeding the children and providing essential support for struggling families. Learning is about 10% of what we do here, explains one head teacher. As one mother told me: Without the school, there is no Christmas

Worthing

"The school helps in so many ways. Its like a family to us." Sian Griffiths visited the Laurels Primary School , West Sussex, where a third of pupils qualify for the pupil premium, a payment to schools to help children from poorer households, and more than a quarter receive free school meals. She heard how the school provides a lifeline to local families, helping them through the hardest of times, and how your money would be used to keep the school open over the holidays. We have children who do not go away all summer. Going to the local Tesco is the highlight of their holiday, head teacher Charlotte Bull explained.

Stoke

Glebe Academy in Fenton, is one of the six towns that make up Stoke-on-Trent, which is in the top 4% of the most deprived regions in England. One in five children at the academy has special educational needs, 42% are eligible for the pupil premium and a third get free school meals. Sian Griffiths travelled to Stoke to meet the families here your donations will help and community members like Carol Shanahan who who run holiday clubs for local children. "You would not let your kids play in most parks in this city," she says. "County lines are a huge problem."

Norwich

"The children are beautifully behaved, polite and friendly, mostly well turned out, but many are grey with poverty and it breaks my heart." India Knight visited the Norwich primary school turning some of the most deprived children into shining stars , and explains why your support is vital to making sure their lights don't go out.

Taunton

Sarah Baxter visited St James Church School, which has become a one-stop shop on the frontline of social services, identifying vulnerable children and parents who need support and psychological counselling. It is a safe environment for those who have suffered domestic violence or sexual abuse. Wed love to take children to the theatre in Bristol and to one of its museums like the SS Great Britain or an adventure camp like Go Ape," said headmaster Nigel Johnson. Read how your money can help offer children activities in the holidays when money is even tighter.

Your money can change lives

Your generosity will allow us to spread some cheer during the holidays. Below are just some of the ways your money will help. And if your company or organisation could offer a holiday experience or activity, please get in touch at thestmagazine@sunday-times.co.uk.

£10 will buy ingredients for a home-cooked meal for a family of six

£25 will cover the cost of energy for cooking and heating over the holidays

£30 would pay for electricity to provide lighting, washing and drying of clothes and bedding during the holidays

£50 will provide a family with a food hamper

£200 will take a group of 30 children walking in the countryside

£250 will fund a street play party

£300 will fund a holiday outing to an art gallery or a museum

£800 will pay for a group of children to go camping next summer

£2,000 will refurbish and restock a primary school library

£2,500 will pay support workers to keep a school open over the holidays

£5,000 will pay the deposit on a minibus so that schools can take children on trips themselves