BWitC Supporting Urban Outreach’s Bolton Lunches

Across the six weeks of the summer holidays, Bolton Wanderers in the Community will be supporting Urban Outreach and their Bolton Lunches programme through distributing free lunches to children from our Sutton Community Hub.

More than 12,500 children are eligible for free school meals in Bolton and during the school summer holidays, many such families face a six-week struggle to find the money to feed their children. In response to this crisis, Urban Outreach distribute free lunches across the borough for free collection at the point of need by children and their parents. Bolton Wanderers in the Community are supporting this through opening our Sutton Community Hub where our staff will be on hand to distribute free lunches to those in need. The aim is to ensure that no child goes hungry.

How it works

Bolton Lunches has been running since 2014 and has built up its distribution sites and support over the years.  Volunteers make up packed lunches which contain a sandwich roll with a choice of fillings, a packet of mini cheddar bakes, a cereal bar, a piece of fruit, a tube yogurt and a drink.  The lunches are then delivered to or collected by distribution sites for children to collect a lunch across Bolton.  These sites are mainly based in areas with a high percentage of free school meals.

Since 2021 the project has linked to join the HAF (Holiday Activities and Food) programme that provides exciting sessions across Bolton covering sports, games, creative sessions, physical activities and more.  Many of the groups choose to receive a Bolton Lunch pack for their children and young people who are involved.  These free sessions are brilliant for bringing communities together, providing educational and physical activities to children and young people.

 

Speaking on Bolton Lunches and the partnership with Bolton Wanderers in the Community, Laura Bagley, Food Team Leader at Urban Outreach said:

“Bolton Lunches has become an integral part of the summer holidays at the heart of many communities across Bolton. Ensuring over 70,000 Lunches are made and distributed only happens because of the many partners and supporters that are involved. We see generosity in so many ways; fundraising, volunteering early mornings to make the lunches, delivery drivers, donations of vehicles and product. We also see how communities come together to feed their local area with a range of groups who open their doors involved. We are so excited that Sutton Community Centre has been able to open it’s doors to be a collection point through Bolton Wanderers in the Community. Thank you for choosing to ensure no child goes hungry this summer.”

 

Beth Warriner, Programme Lead (Inclusion and EDI), Bolton Wanderers in the Community said:

“BWitC are proud to have been working alongside Urban Outreach for many years,  across initiatives such as Bolton Lunches, Holiday Activity and Food Fund (HAF), Dinner on Jesus at Christmas, and many more. This Summer, Urban Outreach will be providing BWitC with over 100 meals per day to be distributed to children and families across Bolton. These meals will be offered through our HAF provisions in Breightmet and New Bury and also through Bolton Lunches which we have been delivering at our Sutton Centre site in Great Lever. Initiatives like this are so important for Bolton, and we are grateful to be able to offer this to the individuals we work with, strengthening our links to the local community and supporting our BWitC Value; “We are passionate about people”. We would like to thank Urban Outreach for their incredible hard work all year round, and their continued support of BWitC provisions and the people we work alongside

 

For more information on this summers HAF programme near you go to www.bolton.gov.uk/HAF

To find your nearest distribution site for summer 2023, click here.

Collection from Sutton Community Hub is strictly between 11am – 12pm.