The owners of a village pub are offering free chicken nuggets and chips to struggling families throughout half term.
The Bird in Hand pub and restaurant in Wrenningham, near Wymondham, took to Facebook on October 23, to offer their support to the community following the government’s decision not to fund free school meals during half term.
Its owners, brother and sister, Alex and Lizzie Brake, said they will be giving away free children’s meals of chicken nuggets, scampi and chips.
In the pub’s post online, they wrote: “One thing that shouldn’t be happening in the UK in 2020 is a child going to bed hungry in our local community.
“It’s not the child’s fault if their parents have got 2/3rds of their household income due to the pandemic and it’s not the child’s fault if the parent decides to spend the food budget elsewhere.
“We can’t afford to feed South Norfolk as we are facing a testing time ourselves, however if it means we need to supply a few hot basket meals to households with children that are suffering in the local area then by god we are going to do it.
“We’ve just checked our freezer, we have 40kg of chips and a few bags of Scampi and chicken nuggets we can write off.
“So, if your kids are genuinely in need of a hot meal then send me a Facebook message and I will ensure your child or children will have something hot in their tummy until the school return.”
This comes after the pub was awarded the South Norfolk Business Community Champion 2020, for their fund raising efforts amid the pandemic.
The pub’s takeaway service will be open from 5pm to 8pm, Monday to Saturday, and 12pm to 8pm on Sundays, but Mr Brake said families should message him directly, via Facebook, if they need help out of those hours.
The 36-year-old added: “Community is very important to us and we want to help in any way we can.
“If you’re in a position you can’t provide for your family, sometimes asking for help can be a difficult.
“But if someone needs hot food to take away, we can do that for them.
“Chicken nuggets, scampi and chips might not be the healthiest option, but anything is better than nothing.”
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