A charity which provides meals for poorer children across Dundee has been boosted by a £40,000 donation from the Scottish Government.
Dundee Bairns, based on Norrie Street in Broughty Ferry, is one of nine Scottish schemes providing food and activities during the Easter holidays to receive money.
In total, the government has handed out £340,000 to offer children breakfast, healthy snacks and a hot lunch, as well as games and activities.
The money will help to support more than 46,500 youngsters who otherwise may have gone hungry over the holiday.
Dundee Bairns was set up three years ago and the money given to it had to be used over the Easter holidays.
This freed up funds already held by the charity that would otherwise have been used to cover the period in which the youngsters would normally be able to get hot food and activities at school or nursery.
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Over the recent holidays the Dundee Bairns team served food to just under 10,000 children across the city.
Marjorie Stewart, Dundee Bairns treasurer, said: “The funding will help us to develop the service.
“We are trying to reach as many children who need feeding when they are not getting free school meals and this funding helped us.”
She revealed it is not the first time the charity has benefited from government cash as it seeks to reach as many people in need as possible.
During July and August 2017 the Dundee Bairns charity delivered just under 19,000 cold meals to approximately 50 projects, along with 4,000 breakfasts.
Aileen Campbell MSP, the Scottish Goverbnment’s Cabinet Secretary for Communities and Local Government, backed the scheme.
She said: “The school holidays should be a time for fun.
“We know it can be a struggle for some parents to provide meals and keep children entertained when their school takes a break.
“This funding will allow projects across Scotland to deliver fun activity programmes for children and young people in the school holidays and include healthy nutritious meals so no child goes hungry.”
