500 Flintshire kids get nutritious meals and cooking skills, thanks to one of Wales’s biggest food distributors

One of Wales’s biggest food distributors is supporting Newydd Catering this summer to supply Flintshire’s Food and Fun programme with tasty and nutritious meals for over 500 school children.

Food and Fun is funded by the Welsh Local Government Association to enable children to access 3 weeks of fun activities, alongside a healthy breakfast, fruit snack and hot lunch during the summer holiday period.

In the third week of the programme, Harlech Foodservice is also supplying a food bag for each child with a recipe book and range of ingredients to help get families cooking over the holidays.

Harlech Key Account Manager David Roberts, who has helped organise the deliveries, said: “It’s gone down very well with the schools – they love it.

“It’s not just a question of delivering supplies, we also have to look at the nutritional value of what we provide because this is about healthy eating and at the same time keeping the children interested in what they’re eating.

“It’s no good providing nutritious food that they don’t like because they just won’t eat it, so we have to make sure it is tasty as well because much of what we do now with schools and healthcare is about environmental and social benefit.

We want to give children nutritious food they want to eat and wherever possible source that food as locally possible so that the money spent stays in Wales.”

In Flintshire there are 13 schools taking part in Food and Fun this year which is the highest number since it started in 2018.

Food and Fun is coordinated by Flintshire Healthy Schools in partnership with Newydd Catering, BCUHB Dieticians and Aura Leisure.

Newydd Business Operations Manager Rob Lawton said: “It is the biggest it’s ever been, involving more schools and more pupils than ever including two special schools for the first time.

“The numbers have been fantastic with up to 40 pupils per school attending each day and each Thursday parents and siblings are invited to a lunch with the children, with over 200 attending last week!

“It’s all about education in a fun way with nutrition and physical activity at the heart of the programme. We’ve had really positive feedback about how much the children have enjoyed the meals.

“We’re really delighted with how well the food bags have come together and hope the families will benefit from these when they go home with the children next week.”

Harlech Foodservice Commercial Director Mark Lawton said: “Food and Fun has proved a really popular initiative which we’re working with not only in Flintshire but Denbighshire, Wrexham, and Anglesey; we also have a separate scheme running with Conwy Council.

“This summer there has been excellent take-up across all four counties with over 2,000 pupils involved and enjoying healthy and tasty food as part of their programme of activities.”