School plea for families in poverty

School principal Katie Jordon and assistant principal Tamsin Wood with year 6 pupils Olivia and Umar

- KIT VICKERY

A PRIMARY school which runs a food bank for struggling families has issued a heartbreaking plea.

The school, in one of the most deprived neighbourhoods in the country, is asking for help for when it opens its doors on Christmas Eve.

Teachers will be coming together to cook hot turkey sandwiches and provide hot chocolate with marshmallows by a campfire, offering families a place to be warm and fed this winter when the cost of living crisis is expected to hit the hardest. Tamsin Wood, assistant principal at the Alt Academy, told the Manchester Evening News that the situation in the area had only worsened in recent years.

The school runs a food bank, which is open to any parent who need it and also works with the Co-op through the Food Share scheme, picking up unsold food close to its expiration date which can then be handed out to families in the morning 363 days a year.