Hook Norton catering company teams up with school near Banbury to prepare 6,000 charity meals

Around 100 volunteers from the Sibford School helped to create 6,000 meals, which will be distributed to food banks across the country.

As part of its annual Holiday Hunger Campaign, staff at the Thomas Franks catering company spent two days preparing meals at Sibford School.

They were joined by around 100 students and parents from the school to work together in a bid to reduce school holiday food poverty.

The activity was organised by the Thomas Franks Foundation, a charity linked to the catering company that uses its facilities to prepare and distribute free meals.

The team at the Thomas Franks Foundation have donated over three million free meals since 2019.

Founded in 2019, the charity has produced over three million free meals, many of which have been given to carers, NHS key workers or families that rely on free school meals.

Director of charity at the Thomas Franks Foundation, Raj Singh, said: “We are the caterers for Sibford School, so we have come together to use the school’s kitchen during the half-term holiday to make meals that will support families that are struggling with holiday hunger, the cost of living crisis and are just generally in need.

"We had 100 volunteers from parents, students and staff at the school and we produced 6,000 meals, which will be distributed across the country as well as go to the Banbury Community Fridge attached to the Banbury mosque."

This is the second year the charity has run the Holiday Hunger Campaign, which aims to provide meals to families over the school holidays.

Raj added: “What we are saying is, let’s use our collective efforts to tackle food poverty because it is possible. If we come together as a community we can solve big problems.

"The food goes to anyone, but during the school holidays the demand peaks because many families rely upon free school meals during term time.”

Alongside the Holiday Hunger Campaign, the charity is involved in another initiative named Feet Up Fridays, which provides meals to unpaid care workers in Oxfordshire.

This involves delivering meals to people who look after loved ones at home, so they can take Friday evenings off without having to worry about preparing meals.

The Thomas Franks Foundation is planning another school collaboration in the coming months.

For more information about the charity visit, https://thomasfranks.com/charity/