43,000 breakfasts, 320 laptops and 900 holiday club places for Telford kids through support schemes
43,000 breakfasts, 320 laptops and 900 kids enjoying holiday clubs. But the importance of supporting families can't be measured in numbers alone.
Four schemes have been supporting children and young people in the Telford & Wrekin area throughout a summer affected hugely by the coronavirus pandemic.
The Laptops for Learning, holiday breakfast, school uniform and holiday activities/eat well schemes have aimed to help ease the burden for families.
The laptop scheme will provide more than 320 laptops to children who have fallen between the gaps across the borough. The scheme attracted support from Town and Parish Councils and personal donations, raising £91,000. It also provided laptop devices to children to continue their learning from home who did not receive a device from the government scheme. The devices will be assigned to children who do not have access to a suitable device at home to support their online learning journey.
The holiday breakfast scheme supported families by providing a breakfast ahead of the school summer holiday. Breakfasts were available to children across the borough whose families were eligible for free school meals.
£30,000 funding from the council provided this service to 12 priority wards, which delivered more than 43,800 breakfasts to children and young people eligible for free school meals across the borough since June 2020. The council has extended its support until the school October half term
The school uniform project has helped hundreds of families with the cost of clothing their children ahead of the new school year. A social media appeal was launched at the start of the summer holidays for donations of good condition uniform that a child may have outgrown or no longer needed because of moving school.
More than 900 children and young people benefitted from the holiday activities/eat well scheme.
Councillor Paul Watling, cabinet member for cooperative communities, engagement and partnerships, said: “We have been delighted with all our summer schemes and projects as they have supported many families across the borough.
“We know there are families who have struggled while their children have been at home and the increased costs associated with this because of the coronavirus pandemic. These schemes have supported them over the summer and they have been a huge success.
“We are also pleased to extend the breakfast service until the October half term across all wards in the borough. We are one of many few Councils to provide this service and we thank all partner organisations who are part of this scheme.
“We would also like to thank all our community partners, Town and Parish Councils and all other organisations who made delivering all of these schemes and projects possible.”
