Some pupils have never even tasted strawberries or pineapple...until now!

Tesco's inspirational Fruit & Veg For Schools scheme has been extended for another year... helping to transform the lives of even more youngsters

- Abbie Wightwick

WHEN free fruit is put out at Ferndale Community School, staff have learnt to turn a blind eye when children take extra. Some pupils arrive hungry each morning because their families cannot afford enough food.

There's even a small group who don't have beds to sleep on.

This isn't a tale of Victorian-era deprivation, but the reality for many British schools in 2025. Ferndale is a former mining village high up in the Rhondda Valley, South Wales, and has the most deprived school community in its local authority area.

Some 37% of its pupils are eligible for free school meals and it serves an area listed as the fourth-most deprived in Wales.

Yet walking through the doors it doesn't feel grim or hungry.

Staff know their community well and are doing all they can to help.

This now includes free fruit and vegetables in cooking classes, a free breakfast club and free fruit at break and lunch.

"In this community there is need because of a lack of food," admits the school's community manager Michelle Coburn-Hughes. "There is hunger and lack of warm, safe spaces for some. The level of poverty in some of our families is quite scary.

"There is a lack of carpets, lack of beds, siblings sharing beds. There is a correlation between poverty and [poor] mental health."

The data linking deprivation and hunger is profoundly depressing and it is Michelle's job to tackle this which she does with cheerful energy.

Ferndale is one of around 400 schools across the UK to receive free fruit and vegetables through Tesco's Fruit & Veg For Schools scheme, which the Daily Express is supporting.

The programme is part of Tesco's Stronger Starts, which provides more than £8million a year of financial support to community groups and schools.