Story
At the end of November, I will be running the Florence Marathon in support of Magic Breakfast (MB), a charity whose mission is to ensure that no child is too hungry to learn. Back in February I wrote a Friday Reflection for Capco on MB in an attempt to highlight a cause close to my heart - not just because I’m a breakfast lover, but because I was shocked to learn that every day as many as 2.6 million UK children are at risk of starting their day with nothing to eat, which significantly impacts their ability to concentrate and learn. Perhaps naively, I did not expect the issue of hunger to be so pervasive in a developed country like the UK, nor had I truly considered the link between having breakfast and successful learning.
Last year, my twin sister started working at MB and through her I have seen and heard about the proven benefits to children’s learning and life chances afforded by starting the day with a good meal. For example, research found that Year 2 pupils in MB schools made an additional two-months progress in reading, writing and maths over the course of a year than children with no such breakfast provision.
The extremity of the cost-of-living crisis, and its continued worsening, is making the work MB do increasingly challenging. In June 2022, MB surveyed over 800 of their partner schools, and 94% of them reported that poverty had increased in their school community in the past year. More children desperately need their support, yet with food and delivery costs drastically increasing, without growing support, reaching more hungry children this year will be hugely difficult for MB. For my siblings and I, pictured below before school one morning (minus a brother!), breakfast was never something we worried about, it was a given. I feel passionately that this should be the case for all school children across the UK. Any donations big or small would be really appreciated and will go a long way in helping MB in achieving their vision of ensuring that no child in the UK starts their day too hungry to learn.
£764.40 is how much it would cost to feed a child throughout their whole schooling life (reception to year 13)
£54.60 could give 1 year of b'fasts + support
£14 could give 50 b'fasts + support
“These kids only have one chance at childhood, and one chance at education. Education is going to be their best way out of poverty. By feeding and valuing them, Magic Breakfast makes a practical difference to these children every single day.” ~ Teacher, Magic Breakfast Partner School, London