CUMBRIAN schools feeling the pinch of tight school budgets have received help from a food charity.

Recycling Lives is a waste management business but also has a registered charity and has been delivering meals to pupils at Orton CE Primary and Shap CE Primary via its Food Redistribution Centre.

The distribution centre is a partnership with national charity, Fareshare, which provides fresh, in-date food to groups such as children’s breakfast clubs, homeless shelters and day centres.

The centre itself is in Preston, Lancashire and the charity is in the process of expanding its services across Cumbria to work with more community organisations.

Emma Pomfret, headteacher at Orton CE School, said: “The food benefits all our children as well as our wider community, who are able to take surplus produce in return for a voluntary donation to school, meaning we can raise desperately needed funds.

“School budgets are incredibly tight so reducing the cost of food into school has allowed us to channel funds to different areas such as staffing for teaching.”

The schools are part of the Food Redistribution Centre’s network of 100 community food members (CFMs), through which it distributes the equivalent of 13,000 meals a week to feed around 5,000 people.

Anne Maud, headteacher at Shap CE Primary, said: “We have only just started using the Centre but have already seen an impact for all our children. Our junior children now also enjoy fresh fruit at playtimes, as the government only provides free fruit for infants.

“We have also used the food to do cooking activities in classes and after school club.

“If we have had any food left over we have offered it to parents for a small donation and this has helped to fund activities for the children that we otherwise would not be able to afford.”

Working with food suppliers the charity redistributes the surplus goods, which would otherwise have been destined for landfill. It has just celebrated delivering one million meals and has diverted 430 tonnes of goods from landfill.

Recycling Lives’ Jeff Green, manager of the Centre, said: “It is a fantastic milestone for us to reach one million meals. We are privileged to be able to do the work we do and work with 100 charitable organisations to get food to those who need it most.

“In many cases it is about much more than just the food - by providing it our CFMs can then support people in education, employment, health, homelessness, finances, family and much more, and also invest their often-scarce resources in other areas.”