Magic Breakfast and Amazon to continue supporting schoolchildren with access to healthy breakfasts over the summer holidays

More than four million free, healthy breakfasts delivered to children across the UK since May 2020 @Amazon @magic_breakfast

35,000 children from 671 Magic Breakfast partner schools will be able to access a healthy breakfast through the summer

Wednesday 11 August 2021, London – Amazon and Magic Breakfast today revealed they have delivered more than four million free, healthy breakfasts to children at their homes across the UK since their home delivery initiative which started in May 2020. Amazon is continuing to deliver meals to children at home through the summer holidays, with 35,000 children from 671 Magic Breakfast partner schools able to access a healthy breakfast.

The Food Foundation in March 2021 reported 20% of children aged 8-17 (over 1.5 million children) self-reported some form of food insecurity (mild, moderate or severe) during the Christmas 2020/21 holiday period. With the closure of schools across the country last year, Amazon, a long-standing supporter of Magic Breakfast since 2016, stepped in to help more children at risk of hunger during the pandemic.

Research for Magic Breakfast by YouGov in 2020 highlighted the extent of the challenges faced around child nutrition and the detrimental impact of hunger on children’s learning during the pandemic:

• 57% of surveyed teachers noticed disadvantaged pupils falling behind academically after the summer holidays
• More than half of all teachers surveyed by YouGov reported concerns about an anticipated rise in hunger among children returning to school
• 74% reported that school breakfasts would help children catch up on learning

The impact of the pandemic on schoolchildren in the UK has been profound. Without going to school, children could not enjoy the healthy breakfast they would normally receive from Magic Breakfast to give them the fuel they need to concentrate and learn. With Amazon’s expertise and logistics support, Magic Breakfast adapted its model so children from partner schools could continue to access their Magic Breakfast through the Amazon Logistics network.

Shafiya Shah, Corporate Partnerships Manager for Magic Breakfast explains that the charity had to move quickly to help those in need:

“The last year has been a period of rapid accelerated growth in the demand and scale of our services. Since 2020, we have doubled the number of schools and tripled the number of children we work with. With Amazon home deliveries, we have now delivered more than four million meals to vulnerable children. This is a remarkable milestone, which would have been impossible without support from Amazon.”

A dedicated team in Amazon’s Milton Keynes Fulfilment Centre packs up the parcels of breakfast food – sourced from generous partners and suppliers of the charity – before sending them out for delivery to children’s homes.

Victor Pulido, GM, Amazon Milton Keynes Fulfilment Centre:

“At Amazon, we’re incredibly proud to continue supporting Magic Breakfast by delivering healthy breakfasts to children across the country through this difficult time. Together, we’ve delivered more than four million breakfasts, and we’re delighted to continue our partnership into the summer holidays and help provide much needed support to more children at risk of hunger.”

One Headteacher of a school supported by Magic Breakfast in North East England spoke of the impact these meals had created for their pupils:

“Even with free meal vouchers, breakfast was still a big issue for many of our pupils. We were over the moon when Magic Breakfast allowed us to get healthy breakfasts out to the families in their homes via home deliveries or take-home packs. By September last year, more than 100 of our families were getting home breakfast provision. This made a huge impact on their lives – a fantastic contribution in trying circumstances. I want to say a huge thank you for the support. Children in my school are more settled, focused, happy, and ready to learn.”