One of the lowest points of Boris Johnson’s reign was Marcus Rashford shaming the Tory government into helping children on free school meals during the summer holidays.
Having depended on free school meals himself as a child, the former Manchester United striker used his “celebrity” status for the common good and forced Johnson to fund summer holiday food and playschemes.
That legacy continues today and it has been a real pleasure this August to visit community groups in Rochdale who deliver the Holiday Activities and Food (HAF) programme, giving so many of our youngsters a warm meal and a safe place to play throughout the school break.
Get Together After Serving, our brilliant local veterans group based in the old Mecca Bingo hall, runs a kids’ programme packed with indoor football, a bouncy castle, movies and creative arts projects. Liz, Adam and the team do a superb job, and I’m grateful to Scott and Estelle at Your Trust for their contributions too. The scheme is a huge help to parents, giving children somewhere fun, safe and active to spend their summer days.
Similarly, Deeplish Community Centre put on a packed timetable of activities for local children — from circus skills to sports sessions, arts and crafts, and even a trip to Blackpool. It was a real pleasure to see first-hand the buzz in the room and the confidence and friendships being built. My thanks go to Sohail, Hamza, Isa and all the volunteers who make it happen, as well as to Rochdale Council for its ongoing support.
Aspire2Inspire are another group running one of the most popular summer clubs in central Rochdale. Founders Kalsoom and Aqub, along with volunteers like Alise, put in a huge amount of time and energy to keep children safe, entertained and fed — and crucially, off their screens — while their parents are at work. Their work is a powerful reminder of how community-led projects can change lives.
In Rochdale this year, there were 75 HAF clubs, with 87 schools issuing vouchers and an incredible 25,940 places booked over the summer. Research shows that for every £1 invested in the HAF programme, there is an £8 return in wider social value — from safer streets and reduced antisocial behaviour, to better physical and mental health for our young people.
I’m lobbying ministers to make sure groups like GTAS, Deeplish Community Centre and Aspire2Inspire, and Rochdale Council, get more certainty over the funding, rather than waiting every January to know if it’s coming.
The government’s recent expansion of eligibility for free school meals to all families on universal credit, plus our moves to make school uniform more affordable, should help with the cost of living too.
I strongly believe we should also end the two-child cap to tackle the high levels of child poverty that sadly still exist in large parts of our constituency.
Helping all the children of Rochdale, Littleborough, Wardle and Milnrow to achieve their potential, whatever their background, is one of the reasons I came into politics.
This summer it has been so inspiring to see youngsters having fun and enjoying their break from school. But we need to make sure that we are doing everything we can all year round to help their families — and the brilliant community volunteers who do such sterling work for our town and its villages.