Youth ambassadors shortlisted for special award

The Food Foundation's Young Food Ambassadors have been shortlisted for the 'Young Campaigner Award’ by the Sheila McKechnie Foundation.

Their hard work for the Feed the Future campaign has been widely recognised across the UK.  

Feed the Future was launched in October 2022 in the context of the soaring cost of living, which is particularly affecting low-income families.

Responding to evidence showing 800,000 children living in poverty in England don’t get a Free School Meal, the campaign called on the Government to extend the eligibility to more children.

Our Young Food Ambassadors' voices and input were crucial in planning and delivering our Feed the Future campaign.

In June 2022, they met in London to plan the campaign and came up with the idea of holding an event in Westminster for MPs and performing a spoken word poem to them.

When the campaign launched, they wrote to their MPs and helped The Food Foundation design a social media campaign.

When we delivered our Superpowers of Free School Meals event in November 2022, the Young Food Ambassadors, working with Bite Back’s youth board, performed a powerful spoken word piece they’d written and choreographed, in front of 200 attendees in Westminster. 

This got a standing ovation from the audience and the performance was coverage by Sky Kids.

Their fantastic work on this campaign has helped to ensure that 270,000 more children will get a hot nutritious meal at school thanks to the decision of London Mayor Sadiq Khan to extend Free School Meals for one year from September 2023.

The Young Food Ambassadors welcomed this amazing news, but they remain worried about children in other parts of the country who still miss out on Free School Meals.

They will continue to campaign for change at local and national levels, hoping to see this expansion rolled out across other parts of the UK but they are so thankful for being recognised for their hard work throughout this high-profile campaign.

Youth Ambassador, Saffron Stedall, said: "I’m so happy that me and my fellow YFAs have been shortlisted for this award.

"I missed out on Free School Meals as my family earnt just above the eligibility threshold and I feel that no child should experience this – particularly during these difficult times of rising food and energy costs. I have loved being part of the Feed the Future campaign!"