SHROPSHIRE Council says it is committed to help keep children and young people from low income homes fed and warm over the coming winter.

More than £800,000 will be spent on extending the provision of free school meals into the holidays, and setting up a new warm clothes initiative through the county’s schools.

The money allocated from the Government will help to keep children fed and warm, and alleviate some of the financial concerns and pressures which many are expected to experience after the closure of the furlough scheme and the Universal Credit uplift ending this autumn.

Children in Shropshire who receive free school meals or are from disadvantaged families will continue to benefit from support with food costs during holiday periods, as they did last Christmas, spring half-term, Easter, Whitsun half-term and in the summer holidays.

Around 8,000 children in schools and pre-school setting received support with food costs equivalent of £15 per week during October 2021 half-term, the Christmas holiday, and spring half-term 2022.

To ensure this valuable support continues through to the Easter 2022 holidays, Shropshire Council has requested that the period covered by the grant is extended.