[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"$f10b3rz2z388kj":3,"$f2hok15hm7kfp4":17},{"id":4,"blog_author_id":5,"blog_category_id":6,"is_featured":7,"title":8,"slug":9,"content":10,"content_overview":11,"published_at":12,"seo_title":8,"seo_description":13,"image":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":16},"01m5fanaffkxrzkrpj1x4keag4","9cdbdd6d-4900-4646-a012-d3e67a5ee788","01j303dmcc6n6900v73fs88bc7",false,"Right to Food Commission supports Aberlour's Call to End School Meal Debt","right-to-food-commission-supports-aberlours-call","\u003Cp>School meal debt.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Three words that should never be uttered in the same sentence\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Children bearing the burden and stigma of debt should shame any society.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And yet, here in Scotland that is what we saw happening for thousands of children and their families around the country.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>For many high school children having a negative balance on their parent pay account would mean being unable to access a meal at school.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>School meal debt and hidden school hunger.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Two sides of the same coin.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>No matter what side that coin lands on it would still show how badly we have failed many of Scotland’s most disadvantaged children.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That is why at Aberlour we were compelled to do something about it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>To make sure we stood beside those children and their families and to call for something to change – urgently.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>We wanted to make sure we saw an \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.aberlour.org.uk\u002Fabout-us\u002Fpolicy-and-influencing\u002Fpublic-debt\u002Fschool-meal-debt\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">end to school meal debt and hidden school hunger for good\u003C\u002Fa>.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In 2023 we urged the then First Minister, Humza Yusaf, to act.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>To bring an end to the shameful practice of children and their families being chased by debt collectors for school meal debt.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>School meal debt is a symptom of families not having enough money to provide the very basics for their children.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Fundamentally, it is about a lack of income.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>We welcomed the introduction of a one-off School Meal Debt Fund to write off outstanding debt for one year.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But we were clear that was not enough.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Our evidence shows that the majority of children with school meal debt are from low-income working families who do not qualify for free school meals.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So, along with writing off the debt for struggling families, we called for the expansion of Free School Meals to all low-income families across Scotland to help prevent school meal debt in the first place.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Again, we welcomed John Swinney’s subsequent commitment to continuing the School Meal Debt Fund for a further year to write off nearly £3 million of school meal debt.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Figures show that this benefitted 70,000 children and their families across Scotland over the last two years.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A welcome relief for many, but still a limited intervention without a long-term solution.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Our campaign to end school meal debt has continued up to and during the recent Scottish Parliament elections.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Last year we also published evidence that pointed to the extent of school meal debt for children and their families in England.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>What our research suggested was that around 1 in 4 children not eligible for free school meals in England had regular or persistent school meal debt.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And so we called on the UK Government to act and follow Scotland’s lead by taking action to end school meal debt for children across the rest of the UK.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This week saw the launch of the independent UK Right to Food Commission report and findings following their work to evidence the scale of food insecurity across the UK.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Commission’s report provides a roadmap and clear actions all governments across the UK must take to end food insecurity for all.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This includes ending school meal debt for good for all children the length of the country, from Aberdeen to Aberystwyth.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In Scotland, the SNP made a commitment during the Scottish Parliamentary election campaign to end school meal debt once and for all.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That manifesto pledge was then followed by the First Minister announcing that families struggling with school meal debt would continue to be helped by committing the same level of investment again this year to write that debt off.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This time this will happen alongside the further expansion of Free School Meals in primary schools.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The urgent measure and a preventative solution.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>There is much more the First Minister must do to make real progress on his ambition to “eradicate child poverty”.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But this is one example that the rest of the UK can follow.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Making sure no child ever again is burdened with debt or goes hungry at school would be a quick win for Andy Burnham, to show his commitment to tackling food insecurity by ending school meal debt in every postcode.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp> \u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\u003Cstrong>Martin Canavan\u003C\u002Fstrong>\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\u003Cstrong>Head of Policy & Influencing \u003C\u002Fstrong>\u003C\u002Fp>",null,"2026-10-21T00:00:00.000000Z","Aberlour Children's Charity's Head of Policy & Influencing, Martin Canavan, shares what must be done to end school meal debt and hidden hunger in schools for good. He shares what has been done in Scotland and what must be done in England.","media\u002Fshared image.jpg","2026-10-21T13:33:25.000000Z","2026-10-22T08:11:54.000000Z",{"id":18,"blog_author_id":5,"blog_category_id":19,"is_featured":7,"title":20,"slug":21,"content":22,"content_overview":11,"published_at":23,"seo_title":20,"seo_description":24,"image":25,"created_at":26,"updated_at":27,"next":28,"prev":29},"01kc6jxfy5p63v0dyks0dez51t","1","'We Woke To A Luminous Lightness, An Extravagant Transformation'","we-woke-to-a-luminous-lightness-an-extravagant-transformation","\u003Cp>\u003Cstrong>Writer remembers her first Christmas in Aberlour\u003C\u002Fstrong>\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\u003Cem>Writer Dorothy Haynes and her twin brother Leonard arrived at Aberlour Orphanage in 1929, aged ten, after their mother died and their father felt unable to cope. Her memoir, Haste Ye Back, published in 1973, describes her childhood years in the Morayshire village and here, in this heartwarming extract, how her first Christmas was an unexpected joy.\u003C\u002Fem>\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Winter at the orphanage was by no means all gloom. There was something about the Speyside air, the tangy pine scent, the cold mountain freshness, which made us wake bright and avid for every new day. The thick, navy knickers, the long black stockings, the bulky petticoats and, above all, the “flannels,” made us impervious to the worst the weather could do.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Winter brought snow and Aberlour snow lay pure and white. It fell overnight, heavily and completely, so that we woke to a luminous lightness, an extravagant transformation with all the trees muffled to twice their size, and lawns and pathways smoored into one gorgeous level of white. \u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Through the winter, Christmas shone like a beacon. I don’t know what I expected an orphanage Christmas to be like. Christmas Day in the workhouse, probably. They would do their best but it wouldn’t be like home. It couldn’t be. This was where I was wrong. My first at Aberlour was a revelation.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The excitement began in early December when conferences were held about decorations. This was a matter always taken seriously. The matrons were given an allowance for paper chains, and a certain amount of holly-stealing was winked at, but neither the money or the holly stretched far enough so savings were squandered on tinsel and balloons, and the infirmary dispensed more cotton wool in December than in all the rest of the year.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So we went on with our preparations and the days before Christmas passed in delicious torment. In spite of the parties and fun everyone wondered, a little wistfully, will there be something special for me? Something from outside, a letter, a card, even, to show off and put on the mantelshelf? Nearly every child had someone to send something, but the unlucky ones hoped in the face of despair, and kept on hoping until Christmas was well over.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I didn’t know what to do about hanging up a stocking. Would it be all right? I asked, half expecting to be laughed at, but everyone assured me that my stocking would be filled. It was too. An apple, an orange, a cake of chocolate and a penny may not seem much today but it meant a great deal to orphanage children forty years ago. We wakened in the small hours and scoffed the lot.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Church, dinner, and games filled the day before the older children headed home from a Christmas dance at ten o’clock.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It had been a wonderful Christmas, our stockings filled, the sausages, the stew, the crackers the dance…and it wasn’t over yet.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>There was still the carol service, when choir boys would sing solos, and the tiniest children would be allowed up to sing “Away in a Manger.” Next week it would be New Year with another dance. Someone would wire a radio up to a speaker – a major electronic feat – and at twelve o’clock we would stand hushed to hear the solemn tones of Big Ben reverberate through the hall: then the warden would shout “A Happy New Year, everybody!” and we would yell back, our ears and throat splitting, “The same to you, sir!” and someone would grab the dinner bells and clang them till they were grabbed and taken away.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>We would have had our school party, the Guide party in the village, and the party for the children who didn’t qualify for any of the other parties; and by that time, the neglected children, the unlucky ones who hadn’t had presents would be called to the study and consoled with sympathy and good wishes and yet another set of Snakes and Ladders. For some reason, orphans are supposed to be partial to the garish boards and green serpents and always received huge stocks of the game at Christmas time. After all that, Christmas would really be past for another year.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp> \u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\u003Cem>This excerpt was provided for The Sunday Post.\u003C\u002Fem>\u003C\u002Fp>","2025-12-22T00:00:00.000000Z","Writer  Dorothy Haynes shares her experience of her first Christmas at the Aberlour Orphanage.","media\u002F026Choir1951.jpg","2025-12-11T11:32:06.000000Z","2025-12-11T16:26:35.000000Z",{"id":18,"blog_author_id":5,"blog_category_id":19,"is_featured":7,"title":20,"slug":21,"content":22,"content_overview":11,"published_at":23,"seo_title":20,"seo_description":24,"image":25,"created_at":26,"updated_at":27},{"id":30,"blog_author_id":5,"blog_category_id":19,"is_featured":7,"title":31,"slug":32,"content":33,"content_overview":11,"published_at":34,"seo_title":31,"seo_description":35,"image":36,"created_at":37,"updated_at":38},"01kc6mna4ve9chgq9aj9kdpte4","'I Just Want My Kids To Remember A Happy Christmas'","i-just-want-my-kids-to-remember-a-happy-christmas","\u003Cp>\u003Cstrong>New mum on defying poverty to give her children a special day\u003C\u002Fstrong>\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"My youngest arrived two weeks early and, by the time of my actual due date, I was already back at work. \u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"It didn’t feel like I had a choice because we needed the money so badly. I was absolutely panicking, we had nothing. When my manager saw me she was like ‘Why are you here? You’ve just given birth.” \u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I wasn’t ready to go back to work but all the benefits were a month behind, and I had nappies to buy, formula, wipes, food.  It was impossible. Eat or pay the gas. Buy the kids clothes or pay the electricity. I missed more meals than I can count but the kids never went hungry. \u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"The house made everything worse. It felt like the enemy from the day we moved in. I remember the wallpaper lifting straight off the wall and underneath it was just black with damp and mould. The walls were wet to touch. The windows had no seals and the cold air was blowing in. The kids were constantly sick, chest infections, wheezy, colds that never really went away.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"The bath was all stained brown. It might have been rust but could have been anything. It was awful. The council came and painted it, like that would help. I refused to put my baby anywhere near it. We couldn’t use it for two months.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"We didn’t have much but anything we had was ruined by the damp. Clothes, toys, bedding, all of it. Living in that doesn’t just damage your things or your health, it batters your confidence. It made me feel like a failure, that I couldn’t even keep my kids safe. You feel uneasy all the time, completely stressed out. I was always cleaning clothes, wiping walls. It just gnaws away at you.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"But we’re getting through. Finding Aberlour, or Aberlour finding us, was a turning point and their \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.aberlour.org.uk\u002Fget-help\u002Furgent-assistance-fund\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Urgent Assistance Fund \u003C\u002Fa>was like someone throwing us a lifebelt. It was literally survival money. The application was made and the money was with me so quickly. It went on absolute essentials, food and nappies, milk and electricity.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"The kids were always sick so we couldn’t go to any play groups or anything. We had become so isolated and just having someone to talk to made all the difference in the world. The house is warmer now, we have a new bath. My kids are always clean and fed, even if I still have to go hungry every so often. And Christmas is coming.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I just want them to feel it’s special. I didn’t have anything fancy growing up but always felt the magic of Christmas and I want my two to feel it too. They won’t get expensive stuff but their stockings will be full and there will be presents. I do everything I can to give them that feeling of excitement. \u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I watch every penny every day of the year but am always thinking about the kids’ Christmas. You can get good buys online, nice new toys for a few pounds, and I know all the charity shops inside out and upside down. I’m an expert at getting bargains and hiding them away.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"On Christmas morning, my kids won’t care where things came from or how much they cost. They’ll just know Santa’s been. That’s all they need to know. Hopefully, when they’re all grown up, they will look back and remember the happiness and excitement of Christmas morning and a mum who was trying her best.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>You can help families across Scotland this winter by \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.aberlour.org.uk\u002Fpovertyrelief\">\u003Cstrong>donating to our Poverty Relief appeal\u003C\u002Fstrong>\u003C\u002Fa>.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp> \u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\u003Cem>This article was written for The Sunday Post.\u003C\u002Fem>\u003C\u002Fp>","2025-12-15T00:00:00.000000Z","Mum supported by Aberlour Children's Charity shares the support she has had and her wish for her children this Christmas.","media\u002FiStock-2184955355.jpg","2025-12-11T12:02:35.000000Z","2025-12-11T15:49:38.000000Z"]