More than £550,000 will be available to support families experiencing hardship as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
On Tuesday 8 December, elected members agreed a package of proposals to support children and families across the Falkirk Council area.
The funding will be used to support a number of projects, including:
- free school meal direct payments for entitled pupils during school holiday periods up until March 2021
- local community food providers supporting 700 households
- households experiencing fuel poverty
- free school meal direct payment for entitled pupils who are required to self-isolate
- support for volunteer expenses and increase income maximization capacity to support people apply for benefits.
Feeding the hungry
Since March, more than £1 million has been spent making direct payments of £3.50 a day to support pupils receiving free school meals during the Easter, Summer and October breaks.
And from April to August 2020, 16,000 food parcels were supplied to households experiencing a shortage of food.
Winter support
In addition to the above members also agreed that the Scottish Government’s £100 Winter Support Fund payment to pupils who qualify for free school meals will be paid to every pupil who is entitled to receive the £35 free school meal payment that covers the school festive holiday period.
Councillor Adanna McCue, spokesperson for Education said: “We know through feedback from our third sector partners and our own experiences that there are a significant number of households experiencing financial and food insecurity.
“These households have been greatly impacted by the economic effects of COVID-19 and we will continue to work with our partners to provide support to those families who need it most.”
In October 2020 the Scottish Government announced £30m funding to support people facing financial hardship. Falkirk Council received £552k to support individuals facing financial risk.