5 June 2019

As many as 1.8m school age children are at risk of hunger in the morning in the UK. We know hungry pupils can be unsettled, can’t concentrate and can be disruptive. Our aim is to end classroom hunger as a barrier to education and players of People’s Postcode Lottery have made a huge difference by supporting us so generously for the past five years.

Between 2014 and 2018 players of People’s Postcode Lottery awarded an incredible £1,300,000 of funding which has contributed significantly to our growth.

When players of People’s Postcode Lottery began supporting us in 2014, Magic Breakfast was working with 252 schools, with more than half in and around London. Since then we have almost doubled the number of schools we are working with and are now supporting more than 480 schools across England and Scotland.

Players were instrumental in supporting the charity’s expansion outside of London, providing links to Northern England and encouraging the development of a ‘Northern Hub’, as we looked to partner with more schools in this region.  We now have a strong cohort of schools in the North and three dedicated school partners working with schools in the region. In 2017 we expanded to Scotland where we now work with over 30 schools. This would not have been possible without the flexibility of People’s Postcode Lottery funding, allowing us to work throughout England and Scotland.

Teachers frequently tell us about the positive difference our school breakfasts make. Attendance and punctuality improve as well as concentration and behaviour in lessons.  An independent evaluation of Magic Breakfast’s provision by the Education Endowment Foundation concluded that: “…supporting schools to run a free of charge, universal breakfast club before school delivered an average of 2 months’ additional progress for pupils”.

Thank you so much to all the players of People’s Postcode Lottery for the profound and positive impact that you have had on the lives of so many children, we hope someone comes knocking at your door soon!