With 5,000 Scots taking to the streets of Edinburgh demanding better, we knew school breakfasts couldn’t be left on the side lines.
That’s why last weekend staff and volunteers from Magic Breakfast joined colleagues in the End Child Poverty coalition and the Poverty Alliance alongside a wide cross-section of the country on the Scotland Demands Better march.
The march and rally, organised by the Poverty Alliance, called on decision makers at both Holyrood and Westminster to create a better set of public services and protections for people across the country. As part of our Breakfast Can’t Wait campaign, we marched through the historic streets of Scotland’s capital in a positive atmosphere looking to work constructively with Scotland’s two Governments and Parliaments at Westminster and Holyrood.
The family atmosphere of the march – flowing past the Scottish Parliament building, up the Royal Mile, and out onto Edinburgh’s Meadows – added to the impact of the day. Wanting a Scotland free from poverty isn’t divisive, its common sense.
With not long to go until the May 2026 Holyrood elections now is the time to signal the change needed to build a better and fairer Scotland. As covered exclusively in the Daily Record, Scots overwhelmingly support school breakfasts being part of that better and fairer Scotland. Breakfast isn’t just popular though, our experience shows how vital it is to schools. Speaking to the Scottish Sun, our Scotland Area Manager Gill McLuckie noted the impact breakfast can have on supporting pupils ahead of the school day:
Just by having that breakfast food on-site, being able to give that young person something to eat helped them regulate and settle.”
Gill McLuckie, Scotland Area Manager, Magic Breakfast
The march also garnered Hollywood support. Acclaimed star of stage and screen Brian Cox noted, “It’s time that politicians, whether in Holyrood or Westminster, delivered on their promises to reduce poverty.”
The First Minister John Swinney MSP noted, “Those marching are right that too many people are living in poverty and too many people – many of them in work – are struggling to make ends meet.”
Mr Swinney is right, and that’s why we want to work with his Government to ensure that universal school breakfasts, a commitment he made, don’t have to wait much longer. If you weren’t able to join the march on Saturday you can still support us and a better Scotland. One thing you can do is write to your MSP and urge them to champion free school breakfasts for all children and young people.
