These Bolton schools have opened their own food banks

Last year, our sister paper The Oldham Times went inside the "hidden food banks" run by schools in the borough – with at least 10 schools providing food parcels and other supplies to parents and students.

And earlier this year, The Bolton News asked Bolton’s schools whether they ran their own food bank.

Out of 98 schools that responded, a total of five said they had run their own food banks between March and May of this year.

Haslam Park Primary, Harper Green secondary, St Ethelbert’s RCP Voluntary Academy, Spindle Point School, and SS Osmund and Andrew’s School all said they had run their own food banks – with Harper Green school even arranging delivery for its school’s parents.

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Other schools, such as Castle Hill Primary School and Bolton St Catherine’s Academy, said they provided food – such as toast, snacks, and bagels – to pupils, while others – such as The Olive Tree Primary School – said they work in partnership with food banks to collection donations for distributions.

Jim Graves has been a headteacher for 18 years – and he’s been at SS Osmund & Andrews RC Primary for four.

Speaking to The Bolton News, Jim said the school’s food bank had been the idea of the pupils.

He said: “The house captains, which were eight children from year six, meet regularly, and they decided to launch a food bank.

“It was a non-uniform day, where in exchange for wearing whatever they wanted – within reason – the children could bring in an item or purchase one. Parents and families brought such a lot of food in that it kept us going for quite a long time.

The school's house captains had the idea to run a food bank (Image: SS Osmund & Andrews RC)

“We set it up in the entrance of the school and the house captains would restock it when it went down. After a slow start – because it was the first time we’d done it – it became successful.”

Jim said mainly parents had used the food bank, which consisted of food bagged up near the entrance of the school.

“We didn’t want parents, or whoever was using the food bank, to feel embarrassed to use it – we wanted to make it as easy as possible, they were in and out,” Jim explained.

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The food bank has now finished, but the school’s pupils have now decided to bring the idea bank as a ‘baby bank’. They are planning to distribute items such as nappies, baby food, and other products.

“We were given such a lot by the parents that we were able to help quite a lot of families,” Jim explained.

Having been a headteacher for 18 years, Jim – aged 54 – said he’d seen the demand for support change since he first started.

He added: “I think what we’re seeing more and more is perhaps the need for some families to have some assistance in some way just in order to make ends meet.

“That probably wasn’t the case as much 18 years ago.”

If you have a story, I cover the whole borough of Bolton. Please get in touch at jack.fifield@newsquest.co.uk.