Dad offers to pay £1,800 school dinner debt 'so kids don't go hungry'

A dad who said he was willing to pay off the dinner debts of pupils at a North Wales school said he received 'no reply' to his offer.Parenting blogger and dad-of-four Simon Harris made the offer after parents at Ysgol Dyffryn Nantlle in Penygroes, Gwynedd received a letter warning them that their children wouldn't be fed unless their accounts were up to date.

Writing on Twitter, Mr Harris called the letter "madness" and offered to pay the £1,800 collectively outstanding on the pupils' accounts.

However, Man Behaving Dadly blogger Mr Harris said his offer was not taken up by the school - who have since released a statement saying they are not supportive "of any system which refuses the provision of a school dinner".In a post on Facebook, Mr Harris said: "After offering to pay the pupil lunch debt at Ysgol Dyffryn Nantlle, I had no reply to the tweets or emails, and it was made clear to me by others linked to the school/council that any attempt to transfer the money to them would be refunded."

He continued: "Therefore, I’m pleased to say that the £1,800 has now been donated to Arfon Food Bank / Banc Bwyd Arfon who are the closest Trussell Trust-linked food bank to the village.

"Some of their food packages go to families within the school’s catchment area, and so it’s still going to benefit families with pupils at the school."The Essex-based blogger told North Wales Live: "I've tried to be as good as my word in the circumstances."

Ysgol Dyffryn Nantlle's letter attracted lots of media attention after it was posted on social media.

Premier League footballer and free school meals advocate, Marcus Rashford responded to the letter and called for the school to be "more understanding" of pupils' circumstances.It has now been announced that primary school students in Wales will be given free school meals as part of a new deal between Welsh Labour and Plaid Cymru.

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