[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"$f10b3rz2z388kj":3,"$f3cmqgy3b43dzy":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,"author_id":19,"category_id":20,"is_featured":21,"title":22,"slug":23,"content":24,"link_text":11,"link":11,"content_overview":11,"published_at":25,"seo_title":26,"seo_description":27,"image":28,"attachment":29,"created_at":30,"updated_at":31},"01j6cdwk6e1mzaxfwqx6jges44","2","1",0,"Aberlour’s evidence to the Scottish Parliament’s Education, Children and Young People Committee’s Call for Views on Additional Support for Learning","aberlour-evidence-on-additional-support-for-learning","\u003Cp>At Aberlour we deliver services across Scotland that support children, young people and families with a range of needs. We support families living with a disability through our community-based family support services, as well as our dedicated disability residential and short breaks services. We also provide safe, loving and nurturing homes for children who can’t live with their families through our residential children’s houses and fostering services.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Our family support services work with children and families at home and in the community, often in partnership with schools, to help and support children with the challenges in their lives and at home that can impact on their learning and education. We work with families to understand the, often intersecting, challenges and stressors in their lives and to ask them what will best help them and their children. This allows us to develop trusted relationships, find solutions together and ultimately help children to be ready to learn when they arrive at school.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Through our work we either directly or indirectly support the education and learning of all our children who require additional support for learning, working in partnership with schools and local authorities across Scotland helping to realise children’s right to a meaningful education. Working in both primary and secondary schools, this includes direct one-to-one support or group work with children in school, focusing on routines, change and transitions, health and wellbeing and emotional support. For children who require additional support for learning in-school support is important, such as nurture hubs, learning support bases and education support workers.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Read our latest evidence paper to the Scottish Parliament’s Education, Children and Young People Committee on Additional Support for Learning (ASL) in Scotland.\u003C\u002Fp>\n","2024-01-11 14:24:51","Aberlour's evidence to the Scottish Parliament's Education, Children and Young People Committee's Call for Views on Additional Support for Learning - Aberlour - Web Backend","Read Aberlour Children's Charity's latest evidence paper to the Scottish Parliament's Education, Children and Young People Committee on Additional Support for Learning.","media\u002Fscottish-parliament-scaled.jpg","docs\u002FAberlour-Evidence-Submission-to-Education-Committee-ASL-Inquiry-Call-for-Views-Dec-23.pdf","2024-08-28T12:03:11.000000Z","2024-11-25T07:44:45.000000Z"]