Struggling parents 'in tears' as full London summer camps turn away children

Tap above to watch video report by Sam Holder

Parents struggling to feed children during the summer holidays have been left in tears after being turned away from overwhelmed summer camps.

The organiser of a camp in Lambeth said demand for for places was "higher than ever" and parents were being turned away at the gates.

"I have so many children I'm not able to take and those people are coming to my gate asking if I can take their children," said Shannon McNab, organiser of the Summer of Food and Fun programme in south London.

"Parents are crying saying 'please, please, you must take my child I don't have any other support.' "I would love to take all the children, but I can't take them all because I'm only funded for a certain amount of children which is 50-a-day which is more than we've ever done," she explained.

Shannon said demand was still outstripping supply even though she increased the number of places.

In London nearly a quarter of pupils are eligible for free school meals and this week a charity warned of "unprecedented" demand from families for help.

The Salvation Army said it had seen a growing number of children referred to it by teachers, health visitors and GPs.

'I’ve never had to claim benefits'

The church and charity is expecting to provide thousands of cooked meals and food parcels to children during the summer nationwide. Carol McKean, one of the charity’s community managers said she had constantly heard the phrase "I’ve never had to claim benefits before" from anxious parents "who look broken asking for help". "I know that, for these people, we are the last resort. They really are short of food for their kids, and some are saying they haven’t eaten for a couple of days so their kids can eat," she said.

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