Babergh has continued to fund a joint initiative offering food and activities for families in need during the school holidays.

Food parcels, containing ingredients for five meals for a family of four, will be distributed throughout the districts in the February half-term. The box also includes recipe cards and links to online cooking tutorials, to help families prepare filling, tasty, and healthy meals.

In addition to this, a bird box making kit and other activities to encourage families to get outdoors will be provided.

This follows the success of similar projects, funded by the councils and partners, which have been organised by Abbeycroft Leisure's Explore Outdoor team.

The initiative aims to help ensure that no child goes hungry when free school meals are paused during the school holidays, and also seeks to promote getting fit while having fun. Families in need are identified by local schools and must be in receipt of free school meals, or facing hardship because of Covid, to be eligible.

Last Christmas, parcels including ingredients for a Christmas dinner, and other meals, were distributed in Great Cornard and Stowmarket to bring festive cheer to low-income families.

A recipient of one of the parcels said: "We are extremely grateful to Babergh and Mid Suffolk District Councils, and Abbeycroft Leisure, for allowing our family to take part in the Explore Outdoor cooking project. We have been able to use the recipe cards to make some nice food and do it together as a family."

Covid, and the subsequent lockdown restrictions, has required the programme to adapt accordingly. Previously, food parcels, cookery lessons and outdoor activities were provided in person at events which took place across Babergh and Mid Suffolk last summer. The councils funded 200 free child places in each district for these sessions, and it is hoped that this face-to-face programme will be repeated later this year.

Cllr Derek Davis, Babergh District Council cabinet member for communities said: "No child should ever have to go hungry and I am pleased that Babergh District Council has lent its support to a project which aims to stop this from happening. These food parcels will provide not just meals for a week, but ideas on how to make food stretch further in future – making a real difference to the lives of low-income families in our district.

"This latest funding demonstrates our council's ongoing commitment to supporting families, at a time when this is needed more than ever."

Frank Carn-Pryor from Abbeycroft Leisure, who manages the Explore Outdoor programmes and initiatives said: "We're very grateful for the support to once again be able to set-up collection centres this half-term for the much-needed food parcels and activities."

"We know how important physical activity is for children and adults, together with good nutrition which doesn't have to be complicated or expensive. Our recipes and videos, designed by local chef James Carn, offer some very simple, cheap, nutritious meals that will satisfy the whole family."

This initiative is in addition to schemes already run in the town for a wider community.

A Hadleigh Foodbank Charity trustee said: "Hadleigh Foodbank Charity is pleased to see how families will get further support during February Half Term from this scheme.

"We have seen a vast increase in demand for our services since Covid began and still those numbers keep rising so this extra support from Babergh is much appreciated and needed.

"If anyone finds themselves in difficulty and would like to ask for support they can contact us in confidence via our website www.hadleighfoodbank.org or email [email protected]".