Children from one of Wales’s most deprived areas are getting free hot meals after school – thanks to a partnership between the local church and school it was reported in March.
Counties evangelist Mike Thomas is leading Chomp!, a new after-school club at Rumney Gospel Chapel in East Cardiff. The weekly club offers children the chance to cook hot and nutritional meals, which they then eat together along with their parents.
Most of the children at Chomp! come from the local school, Greenway Primary, where approximately two thirds of the pupils receive free school meals. Mike said: ‘A lot of families rely on free school meals that are obviously only available during school hours and a lot of children miss out on healthy meals at home. Some parents struggle to buy food, especially things that are nutritionally healthy to feed to their children.’
Partnership
Each week, food is provided free of charge to the club, thanks to a partnership with the charity Fareshare Cymru. Mike added: ‘We also hope Chomp! will help us build lasting relationships with families in our local area. One of the issues people face in coming along to church is the big step in crossing the perceived boundary of the front door. We hope that, in opening up our building to the community, people will feel more at home and there will be one less obstacle for them in coming along to our regular programmes.’
