Bolton's Urban Outreach launches Bolton Lunches

Urban Outreach and its team of volunteers is preparing to serve up 70,000 packed lunches to children to help struggling families.

Every morning around 2,000 meals are prepared to be distributed the same day.

Urban Outreach buys in food, helped with donations from companies, and make and pack lunches for the children.

Volunteers hard at work making sandwiches

Laura Bagley, food team leader at Urban Outreach, said: “We’re on our eighth year of Bolton Lunches, providing lunches for children in the summer holiday.

“It’s aimed at kids on free school meals, but we don’t check, anybody can pick it up if they want to.

“We have our own distribution sites in local areas where children go and collect the lunches.”

Stuart Lever of U Drive handing over keys to the van being lent to Urban Outreach

Laura spoke about the contribution of volunteers to the scheme, saying:“Volunteers arrive at seven o’clock for sandwich making, pack making and fruit sorting.

“There is quite a large volunteer and support base who have done it in previous years, but we also advertise for new volunteers.

“Lunch consists of a sandwich, with a choice of cheese, tuna or ham, as well as a drink, cheddar crisps, a Soreen bar, a piece of fruit and a tube of yoghurt.”

Urban Outreach have received donations and help from various businesses in the area, including bread from Warburtons and vans for deliveries from U Drive Van Hire, Seddons and Bolton Council, as well as help from other companies.

Volunteers packing the ambient parts of the lunch

Stuart Lever, owner of U Drive, said: “We’re donating a van and have done it for a significant part of time.

“The motivations for me personally, me and my brother were both on free school meals, back in those days it wasn’t delivered because that was in the 70s and 80s.

“It’s a fantastic scheme, as well as at the moment with the cost-of-living crisis.”

Stuart and co-owner Melanie Lever, his wife, hoped that other businesses would be encouraged to step up and help charities too.

The packing area Urban Outreach are using

Barbara Williams, a volunteer who was on packing duty, said: “Frankly I think it’s absolutely appalling we have to do this, and in this wealthy a country it shouldn’t be happening, but it is and we’re going to do something about it.

“I was very very surprised to find a lot of people come before they go to work.

Kay Evans, who was there with her husband David, said: “You get to chat with people, we met Barbara this year, we were making tuna sandwiches together.”