Our funding supports Sustain to build public and political support for healthier, fairer and more sustainable school food. Sustain brings partners together to influence national and local policy.
The programme will focus on the quality, accessibility and sustainability of secondary school food, including eligibility, standards and implementation. It will draw attention to challenges raised by families, such as rushed lunch breaks, grab-and-go food and the gap between access to meals and their nutritional quality.
Strengthening parent voice is central. Sustain will recruit a diverse group of parent ambassadors, including parents with experience of disadvantage and of the transition to secondary school. They will help shape priorities and campaigning activity, supported by wider polling, petitions, webinars, partnerships and a practical advocacy toolkit.
The grant also supports coalition-building, policy work and a Children’s Food Summit planned for 2027. Together, these activities aim to create a wider ripple effect, helping more families and organisations contribute to the case for reform.
We are funding this work because lasting change requires public support and coordinated influence as well as practical delivery. Sustain adds a distinctive parent perspective to the portfolio and will help test how lived experience can shape policy, standards and implementation.
Awarded March 2026
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