Oldham school offers free snacks and cooking classes thanks to Tesco shoppers

Pupils at Greenacres Primary Academy will benefit from free fruit at break time thanks to a £1,500 grant from Tesco shoppers.

Healthy Food for All is a tuck shop providing healthy snacks for pupils, as well as a programme of cooking classes for pupils and parents. 

The grant it received forms part of Tesco’s Stronger Starts scheme, which awards funds to charities and community organisations that make a positive difference to those who need it. 

The money will be used to fund supplies for the initiatives to ensure children do not need to pay and money does not need to be taken from the school budget. 

Katie Thornton, Principal at Greenacres Primary Academy, said: “We know how important food and food education are for young children, so this is something we’ve always prioritised at Greenacres Primary Academy. We’ve been having food delivered from Tesco each week with healthy snacks for our school tuck shop, which the children run themselves. 

“Up until now, we’ve unfortunately had to charge children for this as the money to buy the food came out of our school budget. Now with this new grant, all children can enjoy treats from the tuck shop at break. 

“We also have a well-embedded food technology curriculum through school, where children learn about farming and seasonality and follow a recipe from start to finish. We’re now able to fully fund the activities and ingredients for the children, which we’re so grateful for. 

“Finally, we have a well-established parent group who attend school every few weeks and cook together and learn new healthy recipes. We’re now in a position to fund the ingredients outside of our own school budget, and we’re so grateful to Tesco shoppers for helping us do this.” 

Claire De Silva, Head of Community at Tesco, said: “We’re delighted that we can help community projects with initiatives such as Healthy Food for All, which are at the heart of their communities. Tesco Stronger Starts invites our customers to vote using their blue token for local schemes that they feel are important to help our communities thrive, and it’s great to see the impact that the funding makes.” 

The Stronger Starts scheme, in partnership with the Groundwork charity, aims to support many more community projects and good causes across the North West in the coming years, with thousands of pounds to give away. 

Oldham shoppers can support their local school and children’s groups by dropping the Tesco blue token they receive at the checkout into the relevant voting box as they leave the store. 

To apply for Stronger Starts funding, go online at https://tescostrongerstarts.org.uk