Project funding meals for needy is inundated with support after attack by “Scrooge” Tory MP Jacob Rees-Mogg

A project giving out meals to struggling families has had such an outpouring of support since it was attacked by a government minister that has hugely expanded its hand outs.

Thousands of people have responded to the attack by Jacob Rees-Mogg by making massive contributions to School Food Matters (SFM) in Southwark – including some topping £1,000.

The Tory MP called funding for the project from Unicef – the children’s fund of the United Nations – a “scandal” and a “political stunt of the lowest order” and said the organisation should stick to working in some of the world’s poorest countries.

But the scale of donations since the scheme was launched last week was so high that SFM was able to pack and deliver an extra 10,000 breakfasts – and could expand into Lambeth.

That’s on top of the 20,000 it already distributed to 25 schools for the Christmas holidays for families struggling through lockdown. Boxes have enough food for 10 breakfasts, funded by Unicef..

The extra batches went to four community centres and three Southwark schools – where staff came back to classrooms to help distribute the meals to pupils.

SFM chief executive and founder Stephanie Slater said: “We’ve seen an incredible outpouring of support from the public. We have plans to expand the programme for February half-term and into Lambeth.

“The team at SFM turned this around on Friday afternoon for a Monday delivery – they’re awesome.

“School Food Matters is not a food distribution charity – we campaign to bring about policy change.  But we could not ignore the need we are seeing.”

In Southwark, around 15,000 children are vulnerable to food poverty.

Ms Slater added: “We’re so grateful to Unicef. Families are really struggling and many were facing the grim reality of a two-week winter break without free school meals and having to rely on food banks to feed their children. With our Breakfast Boxes, families know that their children will have a great start to the day.

“The threshold for free school meal eligibility is too low to capture all the families in need. That’s why we’re calling for an extension to free school meals. We cannot continue to rely on society to fill the hunger gap. Too many children will miss out on the nutrition they need.”

A Lambeth assistant head teacher said: “These boxes have been such a lifeline for parents, they have absolutely loved them.”

But Tory Commons leader Jacob Rees-Mogg said: “I think it’s a real scandal that Unicef should be playing politics in this way when it is meant to be looking after people in the poorest, the most deprived countries in the world, where people are starving, where there are famines and there are civil wars.

“And they make cheap political points of this kind, giving, I think, £25,000 to one council. It is a political stunt of the lowest order.”

Labour MP for Bermondsey and Old Southwark Neil Coyle responded to Rees-Mogg by saying: “Charles Dickens used his memories of living in Southwark as inspiration for A Christmas Carol, which I’d recommend you read in order to observe the striking resemblance you bear to Scrooge before he amended his ways.”

A Government spokesman said: ‘We are committed to supporting the lowest-paid families through the pandemic and beyond. That’s why we have raised the living wage, boosted welfare support by billions of pounds and introduced the £170m Covid Winter Grant Scheme to help children and families stay warm and well-fed during the coldest months.”

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Pictured top: A boy with some of the donations