More than one million additional free holiday meals delivered over Christmas to help London families struggling with cost-of-living crisis

• An estimated 1.3m meals were delivered to families across London over Christmas as part of the Mayor’s £3.5m Free Holiday Meals programme.
• More than 10.1m meals have now been provided to Londoners during schools holidays and weekends since April last year thanks to the partnership with the Mayor’s Fund for London and The Felix Project
• Mayor calls on Government to increase the support available for households struggling with the cost-of-living this winter

A projected 1.3m free holiday meals were delivered to families across London over the Christmas period, thanks to an emergency funding programme from the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan.

Families across the capital received the free meals at a range of school holiday activities and through charity organisations, thanks to a partnership with the Mayor’s Fund for London and The Felix Project.

A total of more than 10.1m meals have now been delivered to families during school holidays and at weekends since the Mayor launched his £3.5m Free Holiday Meals programme in April 2023, surpassing the initial target of 10m meals.

The programme forms part of the Mayor’s work to tackle the cost-of-living crisis this winter, as families across the capital continue to be faced with soaring energy bills, rents and food costs.

The Mayor is doing all he can to help and has called on the Government to increase the amount of support available to families, particularly low income households, this winter to ease the pressure caused by the cost-of-living crisis.

In April, the Mayor announced £3.5m in emergency funding to provide around 10m free meals to hundreds of thousands of Londoners during the school holidays and weekends over a 12 month period.

During term-time, up to 287,000 primary school children at London’s state primary schools are benefitting from the Mayor’s unprecedented £135m Free School Meals programme to help Londoners struggling with the cost-of-living. Sadiq is also investing £3.46bn into building the genuinely affordable homes Londoners need and £400m on skills and employment programmes to support Londoners to find more secure work. This is in addition to more than £80m to help those struggling with the rising cost-of-living to tackle fuel poverty, supporting private renters, connecting Londoners to welfare advice and tackling food insecurity.

The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, said: “Winter can be incredibly tough for families who are already struggling due to the cost-of-living crisis, which is why I’m proud of the difference that our Free Holiday Meals programme is making for Londoners. It is shocking that in a city as prosperous as London so many people have to rely on the work of charities to feed themselves and their families. We desperately need the Government to step forward and increase the amount of support available to families and make sure no child goes hungry this winter, as we build and fairer and better London for all.”

Jim Minton, Chief Executive, Mayor's Fund for London: "We’re delighted that investment by the Mayor in this partnership is providing 10 million much-needed meals. Critically, this funding also enables us to deliver our Kitchen Social community hubs network this Christmas, teaching young people how to prepare nutritional meals on a budget and providing free activities to promote physical and mental wellbeing and counteract social isolation. As a result of these activities, 94 per cent are more confident and physically active, 100 per cent feel happier and 84 per cent better understand how to lead a healthy life, building a more resilient generation of young Londoners."

Rachel Ledwith, Head of Community Engagement at The Felix Project said: “Christmas can be an incredibly stressful time for parents, particularly those who are on low incomes. There is so much pressure to spend money, they often don’t have, on presents and food and with the increased costs of children at home it can mean many are left with no option but to get into debt or skip meals. Being able to send their children to a holiday club where they are given a free delicious and healthy meal is vital in helping to relieve some of their budgetary pressures. The Felix Project is delighted to once again been supported by the Mayor of London to ensure we can be there to continue to deliver meals during these challenging times.”