A HUGE thank you to one of our youngest fundraisers, five-year-old Francesca Hamilton, who donated the contents of her piggybank to ATE’s school feeding programme.
Last week, Franki, a pupil at Speenhamland Primary School in Newbury, gave us £1.65 which is enough to buy eight nutritious meals at Karbo Primary and Junior Schools.
She told us that her favourite meals were macaroni cheese and margarita pizza, and it made her sad to think that children in the remote village of Lawra would often go for days without a meal before ATE introduced its school feeding programme in 2013.
She was inspired to donate her pocket money by her mum, Melody, who donated £50 to our cause following the introduction of free school meals for all foundation stage primary pupils in the UK, a scheme rolled out by Liberal Democrats in central Government.
“My daughter started school last year and due to the policy I have not had to provide money for lunch or make a packed lunch for her,” said Melody. “I don’t really agree with this type of universal policy because I think it directs money to those who don’t really need it. I wanted to do something with the money that I would have spent on school dinners this term.
“It’s good for Francesca to know that she’s lucky. We talk all the time about politics at home. We are very lucky to live in this country. I think it’s really important that she knows that there’s other children who don’t have as much as we do.”
We would like to send a huge thank you to Melody and Francesca for their thoughtful donation, which will directly contribute towards ATE’s school feeding programme at Karbo Primary and Junior Schools.
Writen by Ellis Barker