Charity slams Tory government over Dinner lady’s heartbreaking comments on food poverty

A charity has hit out at the government after a dinner lady spoke passionately about the impact the cost of living crisis is having on the children at her school.

The Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) called on Tory ministers to do more to support families after the school worker spoke in an emotional interview at the Enough is Enough rally in Manchester.

Speaking to PoliticsJoe, the woman from Lancashire said: “And to be honest, it’s not what I took the job for. You know, I never dreamt that I’d be having to tell children, ‘You can’t have that, you have no money on your account’.”

While it used to be a once-a-month occasion, usually because the parent had forgotten to add money to the child’s account, the woman went on to say it was happening more regularly.

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“But now you’re talking 10 to 15 children a shift, every day, every single day,” she said.

The school worker went on to say it was a “humiliating” experience for the children and that it was “breaking [her] heart”.

“I’m just dreading going back to work. I’m dreading October, and to be honest, it’s just getting to the point where I don’t even think I can do this job anymore. I didn’t take on the job to starve children,” she went on to say in the emotional interview.

“Something has to give and I just don’t think it should be children’s spirits.”

The JRF is a charity that supports people in poverty. It released a message on social media in response to the clip, writing: “It's absolutely appalling that in our compassionate society, children are going hungry. When the new Prime Minister is announced, they need to take significant and immediate action to right this moral wrong.”

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