Council to invest £1 million in long-term holiday hunger solution

Alec Doyle, Local Democracy Reporter 

A Welsh council is planning to invest up to £1 million in a sustainable long-term replacement for the ‘Holiday Hunger scheme.’

Flintshire County council has published a tender for businesses, charities and social enterprises to come forward and create what it calls a ‘food system’ to tackle families in poverty – particularly during school holiday periods.

The scheme will replace Holiday Hunger – a programme launched in 2023 to ease the pressure on poorer families during school holidays, when free school meals aren’t available for their children.

Flintshire County Council hopes that whatever replaces the scheme will end the need for the authority to fund food support for poor families within five years.

Just before last year’s summer holidays, Flintshire approved a £260,000 Holiday Hunger budget to provide £50 one-off payments to families who qualified for free school meals during term-time.

At the time Cabinet Member for Education, Welsh Language, Culture and Leisure Cllr Mared Eastwood said: “The Holiday Hunger working group recommends continuing with the payments scheme in summer 2025 before exploring more sustainable solutions to be implemented early 2026.”

Due to start on June 1 this year and with a value set at £1m, this tender is searching for that solution.

“Flintshire County Council has identified the need for a sustainable food system to support households facing food poverty, particularly during school holiday periods,” says the document, which was published via the sell2wales portal.

“Current models of one-off financial support have been found to be short-term, costly and unsustainable. The council seeks a long-term solution that ensures affordable access to fresh, nutritious food (excluding ultra-processed foods), reducing reliance on emergency food provision and improves health outcomes.”

The successful bidder will have to demonstrate that their plan provides fresh food and meal solutions to all families in poverty – including those in rural areas, can work in partnership with community hubs and is targeted towards the most vulnerable households.

Crucially, the scheme must also offer solutions that help residents to move off the scheme and be able to support themselves.

As well as offering fresh, healthy food the scheme will also need to save the council money.

The tender document highlights that it must ‘ensure value for money and demonstrate how costs will reduce annually to eliminate council subsidy within five years.’

Partnerships with community organisations and suppliers in Flintshire and North Wales are also encouraged.

Businesses, charities or social enterprises interested in taking up the challenge can attend a pre-market consultation event on Wednesday, January 21 to learn more.