A scheme to help families provide meals for their children will be continued through the October holiday.

After new funding was dished out by the government, Havering school children can continue to benefit from the School Holiday Meal Scheme.

The scheme was initially introduced during the pandemic to provide extra help to those in need.

It aims to assist low-income families with buying food over the holidays when their child would usually receive food during school.

Eligible families can apply to receive £15 per child from 9am on October 18 until 5pm on October 25.

Those already registered and eligible will automatically receive the money into their chosen bank account during the week beginning October 25.

Leader of Havering Council, Cllr Damian White, said: “I am pleased to say that we can continue to provide support with meals for families who are most in need during the half-term break."

He added: "We will continue to do all we can as we recover from this pandemic.”

New claims will be processed from November 8 and details of how to apply can be found here https://www.havering.gov.uk/covid19mealsupport