A FUND to help Scots move away from emergency food support such as food banks has been extended for another year.
The £1 million a year Fair Food Fund will operate again in 2018-19 to enable existing projects to continue their work.
In addition, a further £1m over the next two years will fund new activity to support children facing food insecurity, particularly during school holidays.
Equalities Secretary Angela Constance made the announcement on a visit to Central and West Integration Network, a Fair Food Fund-supported project in Glasgow.
She said: “No child should go hungry in a country as prosperous as ours.
“We provide free school meals for all pupils in P1-3 and for those from a low-income background throughout their time at school.
“It’s clear that for some families, facing a daily struggle to make ends meet, there is an issue providing nutritious food out of school terms.”
She added: “I want to address that, so I’m pleased to announce we will be investing an additional £1m over the next two years to focus specifically on supporting children in this situation.
“I am also delighted that we will continue to support existing Fair Food Fund projects for a further year.
“This funding is making a real difference for people and projects. It enables people to access meals, learn new skills, make new friends and contribute to their community.”
Peter Taylor, chair of Central and West Integration Network, said: “We support asylum seekers and refugees, migrant workers and black and minority ethnic people.
“Many face-long term food insecurity because of their legal status. The Fair Food Fund allows us to do more than help to meet their food needs. It enables us to do this in a socially supportive environment where opportunities for learning, positive activities and meeting people from other communities are provided.”
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here