Free school meals: How to find out who’s offering food this half term

26 October 2020, 14:32 | Updated: 28 October 2020, 09:02

Which restaurants and businesses are offering free school meals this has term? Here’s how to find out which venues are helping out.

Cafes, restaurants, shops and councils are offering free school meals to the most vulnerable this October half term.

The donations from local businesses and meals comes after MPs voted not to extend the free school meal scheme over the school holidays in England.

Following their decision, multiple places have agreed to pull together and offer food, meals, vouchers and even food hampers to those who are vulnerable.

Read more: Matt Hancock tells LBC it's 'right' the public stepped in to help over school meals

So who has agreed to give out free school meals this half term? How do you find out which businesses in your area have also offered free meals? Here’s what you need to know:

Which food chains will provide free school meals this half term?

It’s not just local businesses pulling together but some big chains have also agreed to help.

McDonalds has pledged one million free meals and is one of the biggest companies to join the October half term free meal offer so far.

Other chains include Pho, Huffkins bakery and Big Smoke breweries.

Co-op have agreed to provide 1,000 food vouchers over half term and you can also donate your Tesco Clubcard points to FareShare if you log on to the Tesco website.

How to find free school meals in your area in the October half term

Local cafes, restaurants, shops and more have happily volunteered to offer free school meals this week.

The best way to find out who’s offering free food in your local area is to either check the Free School Meals map here.

You can also use website helpoutwhenschoolsout.co.uk/ where you can pop your postcode in and check the local offerings.

Handy app Olio also allows users to pick up free food from locals that they either don't need, made too much of or simply clearing out.