Feeding London’s hungry children

23rd April 2014

London’s Biggest Breakfast, the campaign created by charity the Mayor’s Fund for London, launches on 24th April with a breakfast club at the Hilton London Tower Bridge.

London’s Biggest Breakfast aims to raise awareness and much needed funds to support more breakfast clubs across London primary schools, ensuring children from the capital’s most deprived areas start the day with a free, healthy breakfast and are ready to learn.

Ten more schools are already benefiting from a breakfast club, thanks to the success of last year’s inaugural campaign. Working in partnership with Magic Breakfast and the Greggs Foundation, the Mayor’s Fund for London Breakfast Club programme will reach 2,500 children in 60 London schools.

London’s Biggest Breakfast is now calling on organisations and individuals across the capital to host fundraising breakfasts over the next few months. This year’s campaign culminates on 18 September with Magic 105.4’s breakfast show, being broadcast live from City Hall.

Ahead of the live broadcast, the Mayor’s Fund for London plans to take one of its school breakfast clubs to a key London landmark for a unique breakfast experience every month. The charity is also enlisting its celebrity supporters to ‘go back to school’ and host their own breakfast club. Each month the charity and Magic 105.4 will also be offering two listeners the chance to meet Boris Johnson as he hosts London’s Biggest Breakfast at City Hall on 18 September.

Boris Johnson, Mayor of London said: “Getting involved with London’s Biggest Breakfast is an easy way for companies and individuals to help London kids get a healthy breakfast and set them up for their school day.”

Hilton London Tower Bridge General Manager Stephane Weit said, “Hilton London Tower Bridge is delighted to be part of London’s Biggest Breakfast Campaign, and to be able to support its cause by both providing a much needed healthy breakfast to children, as well as giving them the ‘Hilton breakfast experience’. Today’s event is the first step in our long-term cooperation with the Mayor’s Fund for London, as our local nominated charity. We look forward to working together closely in the future and combining our efforts to make a difference.”

New research, commissioned by the Mayor’s Fund for London, targeting the capital’s schoolteachers, demonstrates the urgent need for organised breakfast clubs to be available in schools. Teachers told us that a child who has had a good breakfast in the morning tends to:

• Have better concentration (100%)
• Behave better in class (90%)
• Have better attainment (85%)
The teachers who responded believe there are several reasons for children arriving at school without having breakfast as follows:
• Breakfast needs to be seen as a more important or part of the ‘family routine’ (80%)
• They don’t have time (68%)
• Families can’t afford it (59%)
Teachers also told us:
• 97% see evidence of some children starting their day without having had breakfast
• Over 90% have provided children with food in the morning to support their learning
• Half say that children tend to be more healthy when they have eaten well