Child hunger: What is football doing to help this Christmas?

More than four million children in Britain are living in poverty, according to the Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG), and the effects of the coronavirus pandemic has lead to many families turning to charities to help them put food on the table.

New research from the Social Market Foundation (SMF) suggests almost two million children went short of food at some point during 2020.

The charity says any official data from the government outlining levels of child hunger during the pandemic aren't expected to be released until 2022.

The Government provided free meals to disadvantaged children this summer after coming under pressure from Marcus Rashford. They say they're now putting additional support in place to make sure families do not go hungry as the pandemic continues.

However, 16% of parents who took part in the recent child hunger survey said their children had to either eat smaller portions, skip meals or even go a day without food between March and September this year.

"Marcus Rashford has done such an amazing job supporting hungry children and done everything he can to help. His campaigning has been really inspirational but, sadly, we estimate that there are nearly two million children who have had to skip meals since the start of the pandemic in March," said Aveek Bhattacharya, who is a chief economist at the SMF.

Fareshare, the UK's biggest charity tackling hunger and food waste, said 90% of the charities it works with predict demand for food will remain the same at crisis levels or increase over the Christmas period and winter months.

What are football clubs and players doing to help?

Lots of charities and organisations have been helping to provide food for children and families in need throughout this year and those in the world of football have also been getting involved.

Manchester United and England star Marcus Rashford has shown huge support for tackling child hunger and his campaigning even saw the government change its mind on a previous decision not to provide children with free school meal vouchers over the Christmas holiday period.

Lots of other players and clubs have also taken steps to address the issue of child hunger.

Crystal Palace Football Club and its charity the Palace for Life Foundation are providing hot meals for local people in need. The project saw more than more than 16,500 meals delivered to locals during the first lockdown and it now aims to create and deliver a further 5,000 before Christmas.

Liverpool defender Andy Robertson, who has praised Marcus Rashford's efforts in tackling food poverty and described the player as a "credit to football", has also been inspired to help children in need.

He recently launched his own charity called AR26, which will support young people in his native Scotland. AR26 has teamed up with a number of Scottish charities to provide families with nutritious food and essentials over Christmas.

Chelsea and England defender Reece James has also been working alongside charities to help provide free meals for children. The 21-year-old, who has been a supporter of the London-based food charity the Felix Project since 2019, said he was inspired to help after growing up around friends who didn't have always have access to meals at home.

This year, the football star has been taking part in the Evening Standard and The Independent's Food For London Now and Help The Hungry campaigns to help provide free meals for children in London.

What about the government?

The government has said it will be providing support for vulnerable families in England through a new winter package and its Holiday Activities and Food programme, which it will be expanding next year.

A spokesperson said: "We are committed to making sure that the most vulnerable in our society are protected and we've put in place a strong package of support to ensure children and their families do not go hungry during this pandemic.

"Our additional £400 million of funding includes £170 million to help families stay warm and well fed this winter, a further £16m to provide to frontline food aid charities and £220 million to the Holiday Activities and Food programme."