Newcastle's Big River Bakery feeding children with breakfast bags as the cost of living rises
As the cost of living continues to increase, a community bakery in Newcastle is rising to the challenge to help.
The Big River Bakery in Shieldfield is making 400 breakfast bags a month to deliver to a local school.
The project was set up after teachers in the area voiced concerns about children going without the most important meal of the day.
Gail Lawler said: "Teachers started telling me about this issue where there are children who can't access breakfast clubs and don't have access to any breakfast in the morning and we though, maybe we could help them."
This November, the breakfast bags are being delivered to Christchurch Primary School in Shieldfield.
The bags are being funded by donations from the public and proceeds from the sale of a children's book about the bakery mascot "Scotty the Stottie".
Ms Lawler added: "Hunger, particularly with children in Newcastle, is a big issue at the moment, so anything we can do to help, is really important.
"If children go to school without any breakfast, they can't learn, so they are at a disadvantage already."
Between 2020-2021, the rate of child poverty in the North East was 38%, overtaking London to have the highest rate in the UK.
Alarmingly, that figure equates to around 11 children in a classroom of 30.
Megan Power is a teacher at Christchurch Primary and says they welcome any support to those feeling the pinch:
She said: "There is a cost of living crisis going on, so I think all parents and the whole school community agrees that a delicious, nutritional breakfast for our children, for free, is a wonderful thing.
"It ensure that the children have what they need. We want to set the children up to do well in life and if they're thinking about their food, they're not going to be thinking about their English or focussed on their maths, or any of their learning."
The Big River Bakery is a community business that delivers training and opportunities to people facing complex barriers to employability.
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