2 August 2019

At Magic Breakfast, we work to an academic calendar, so at this time of year we get a chance to catch our breath and look back at that last school term.

In May this year we ran our #MagicSATs campaign to raise awareness of how classroom hunger affects children taking exams. The majority of the schools we work with are primary schools, hence using the name of primary school exams, but we now work with a significant number of secondary schools and the campaign was just as much about helping sixteen-year olds facing GCSEs on empty stomachs as those facing SATs.

The campaign was launched at the beginning of May by actor Russell Tovey who visited a school in Tottenham to see the difference school breakfasts make. Thanks to his huge Instagram following, his fans learnt about the work that we do and he kindly gave us a shout out on BBC’s The One Show and talked about his school visit. It was a great start to the campaign.

---

Russell Tovey on The One Show

---

A lot of the fundraising during the campaign was done through our many restaurant partners. Some put a voluntary donation on customers’ bills, some produced a special dish, all gave us great support.

Special thanks go to: Aqua Shard, Ben’s Canteen, Berkeley Catering, Bistrotheque, Gail’s Bakery, MEATliquor, Som Saa, Radio Alice Pizzeria, Red Rooster and The Petersham

And finally and probably most importantly, thank you to the individual donors who gave what they could that week. The poverty landscape in the UK is distressing and there are many more children who need our help throughout the year. Our work goes on.