Caerphilly County Borough Council served their one millionth free school meal delivery on the 16th December when they delivered their Christmas meal boxes.
Rachel Booton and her three children received the one millionth free school meal delivery and were gifted with a bunch of goodies to celebrate this fantastic achievement, sponsored by W R Bishop, the Council’s free school meal fresh produce suppliers.
Included in the Christmas meal box is a Christmas dinner, a Christmas cracker, festive deserts and a selection box.
In March, the Catering team were challenged to feed over 6,000 children and young people in the Caerphilly borough area who are eligible for free school meals. Deliveries continued when the children went back in September whilst catering was brought safely back into schools. The delivery service has also been operating to those pupils who are self-isolating.
Rachel Booton, receiver of the one millionth free school meal, said: “I can’t believe CCBC have delivered one million free school meals since March, it is amazing. Being a single mother to three children has made it very difficult to go out to the shops, especially when there was a one person only limit in supermarkets, so having this big delivery every week has helped us all a lot. Thank you from us all.”
Marcia Lewis, Principal Officer for Catering, said: “We have got here through sheer hard work and determination. This has been a mammoth task achieved through the fantastic teamwork from across the authority and the local suppliers. We couldn’t operate this service without you. This is a true example of team Caerphilly working at its best. We are so pleased to have reached our one millionth meal. Thank you to everyone who has made this possible.”
Cllr Ross Whiting, Cabinet Member for Learning & Achievement, said: “This has been a very different year for us all, but we couldn’t end it better than the delivery of our one millionth meal to Rachel Booton and her three children. This is an innovative scheme, and we could not do without the teamwork and effort you all put in week in, week out. Thank you to all those involved, have a very Merry Christmas.”
