As Clinical Psychologists we know only too well the long-term impacts of poverty on child development.  Dame Louise Casey recently highlighted her concern that families were being forced into ‘destitution’ and would struggle to put food on the table. We are consequently disappointed that the UK Government decided not to extend the provision of free school meals in England during the school holidays. This contrasts with all of the rest of the United Kingdom who have pledged to feed our most vulnerable children.

Those of us who work in children’s services such as Child and Adolescent Mental Health services, Schools or Paediatrics and Child Health and Development see the impact of malnutrition every day. It affects important cognitive functions such as memory and concentration and has a long-term impact on education. It has a negative influence on parents and families, increasing stress and distress and putting children at more risk. It impacts on communities who are struggling to meet the needs of hungry children. We commend the government’s aim of addressing the overall impact of childhood poverty, but children are going hungry now. Extending free school meals is a simple and targeted way of making a big impact on those who need help the most.

We join our colleagues in the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health and the Children’s Commissioner for England in calling for the free school meals scheme to be extended. We also thank Marcus Rashford for his tireless campaigning on this issue.

A society should be judged by how well it treats its most vulnerable members. An investment in child nutrition is an investment in our future. Better outcomes for individuals means better outcomes for our whole society. When we think of our children as being solely their parent’s responsibility and therefore their possessions this belittles us all. It truly takes a village to raise a child – let’s commit to being a village we can all be proud of.