"Some of our children come to school with the remains of yesterday’s take away in their lunch box – some cold fried chicken (mostly bones) and a few cold chips. "

"At about 11.30 children start going to the classroom door because they can smell the school lunch and are hungry. They can’t wait to get into the main hall to eat. We have to ask them to sit down and wait. It’s heartbreaking."

"We’ve noticed some children with distended stomachs through malnutrition. We believe this is because they come from a large families who simply don’t have enough food to go round. On one visit we found a family of 10 living in one room. "

“A young mum is struggling with finances as the dad is not on the scene and there are some issues with her immigration and housing (she is living in a car (!!), therefore she is not entitled to benefits, even though the children have British passports.

We offered her son (aged 5) a free place at the Breakfast Club to ensure he had a warm and nourishing meal at the start of the day. The only condition we put was that he must be clean and on time in the morning. And it worked successfully all last year. The same arrangement is going to continue this year.

There has been positive feedback from teachers about his performance in class as well. Mum feels very supported and his attendance and punctuality has improved greatly. Even physically he presents more neatly and cleaner.”

"I’ve seen a child slip under his desk, faint with hunger. I’ve taken him out, given him a drink and one of your bagels and he sprang back into life. He’d probably not eaten anything since school dinner the day before. That’s why we rely on Magic Breakfast."

"With breakfast, children are ready and able to learn. Oliver was on report nearly every day for disruptive behaviour. Since coming to the breakfast club he’s become a bright and engaged student who is eager to participate in lessons. "

"Zara, one of our youngest children, often gets in late and quite upset. And if she kicks off, the whole school kicks off. When we realised it was down to hunger we started giving her a bagel and some milk, which settled her down and meant she could join her class without disrupting the other children.

"Jamil is on the street from 7am, he eats more than anyone else in the club. He is doing quite well in school now, but if the club wasn’t there, he’d just go without"

"We have 2 brothers who were being left in the playground early in the morning and would barely make it into class before being sent to the office for disrupting the class.  Since they've been going to breakfast club not only are they happier and more settled, but their performance has improved and it's been a long time since we've seen them in the office!"

"One of our boys suffered from relatively severe behavioural issues which prevented his mother from seeking work.  Since he has been coming to our clubs she has been able to complete her education and has just started her new job.  Her son is much happier and more settled and his behaviour is significantly improved."

"One of our children was quite disruptive and unhappy. Now he's coming to breakfast club he's much happier and his teacher has told us that he's stopped throwing tantrums first thing in the morning."

*the children in these photos are not related to the stories. Names have been changed