Foxes Support Local Children On Free School Meals
- Leicester City team up with Leicester City Council and Samworth Brothers to provide families with ingredients to make tasty lunches at home
- Five First Team players have supported the scheme by cooking up easy-to-follow recipes at the Club’s training ground
- LCFC reassigning funds normally set aside for supporter giveaways not possible during the pandemic
The Foxes have teamed up with Leicester City Council and food manufacturer, Samworth Brothers, to provide families with all the ingredients they need to make five tasty lunches at home, together with simple instructions for making the meals.
Coming at the end of a football season played almost exclusively behind closed doors, funding provided by Leicester City has been reallocated from that normally in place for supporter gifts, which became a tradition under the late Chairman Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha and has continued under his son, Khun Aiyawatt.
LCFC Chief Executive Susan Whelan explained: “Whether it’s beers and mince pies at Christmas, or cupcakes for Khun Vichai’s birthday, giving back and thanking our supporters has always been an important part of our philosophy.
“Our opportunities to do that have been limited in the last year, which has been a time of great hardship for many people in our city and our communities. The holiday food programme allows us to appropriately channel those funds, on behalf of the Club and its fans, to some of those less fortunate in the city.
“We look forward to working with Leicester City Council to enhance such programmes in the future, using the Club’s visibility and expertise to ensure simple, healthy, affordable food is accessible to everybody in Leicester.”
Evans Demos Recipe As School Meals Initiative Is Launched
Jonny Evans runs us through one of the recipes provided in the school meals project, which was recently launched for half-term.
First Team players Jonny Evans, Ricardo Pereira, Ayoze Pérez, Marc Albrighton and Luke Thomas have showed their support for the scheme by swapping their blue kits for chef’s whites and cooking up the easy-to-follow recipes at the Club’s training ground.
Videos of the five players making family favourites, such as Easy-Peasy Pizza and Tuna & Vegetable Frittata, will be posted on the Club’s social media platforms to encourage youngsters to have a go at making the dishes themselves.
Additionally, Club Mascot Filbert Fox attended Taylor Road Primary School in the city centre to help cook some of the recipes with pupils, as well as joining LCFC staff and Club Ambassadors at Samworth Brothers to assist with the packing of food boxes ready for distribution.
As well as receiving the food box, eligible families will be able to sign up for a range of free activities during half-term (subject to availability) and pick up a free activity pack from any of the eight Leicester libraries that are open for order and collect.
Anna Grant-Thomas, Head of Taylor Road Primary School, said: “Learning how to cook a simple meal that’s tasty and healthy is a very important lesson, and I think our children will enjoy making these meals at home.
“Most of them are huge Leicester City fans, so I’m sure they’ll enjoy cooking along with their heroes and copying their good eating habits.
“For far too many families, school holidays are an extra strain on already stretched budgets, so initiatives like this one really do help ensure that all children get at least one proper meal a day.”
The half-term food programme is supported by £200,000 from the city council’s COVID Winter Grant Scheme.
All schools in Leicester were invited to participate in the scheme, with 109 city schools signing up to be part of it. A total of 13,738 food boxes will be distributed.
Each box will include the ingredients needed to make the five meals featured in the recipe cards – all of which are approved by NHS Leicestershire Nutrition and Dietetic Services. These are: Lentil Curry, Chickpea Tray Bake, Quick Pizza, Tuna & Vegetable Frittata, and Tuna & Sweetcorn Pasta.
Assistant city mayor Cllr Sarah Russell, who leads the city council’s anti-poverty agenda, said: “It’s been a very tough year for everyone, but it’s been particularly difficult for families on low incomes. I’m pleased then that we’re able to offer this half-term package of food and activities that will hopefully make life a little easier for many local families.
“Almost 14,000 children and young people in Leicester are eligible for free school meals and it’s vital that they don’t miss out on a meal when the schools are closed.
“I’d like to thank Leicester City Football Club and the team at Samworth Brothers for helping us to support thousands of young people and their families across the city with this important half-term initiative, the volunteers for delivering the boxes to schools, and the organisations who are providing such a range of activities as part of the programme.”
Please click HERE to see if your child is eligible for free school meals.