by Rebecca Hannant
A café in Hornsea is once again giving away free children’s meals to struggling families.
Since 2022, Café Eden has been running the annual initiative during the school
summer holidays.
Inspired by the surge of restaurants and supermarkets announcing heavily discounted meals during the holidays, owner Rachel Crawford and her father came up with their own plans.
Rachel said: “My dad had mentioned about how places like Asda did ‘kids eat for a pound’, but that there weren’t any of those shops in Hornsea. It was such a shame that the kids on free meals at school would be struggling to be fed in the holidays. So, we came up with the idea of something we could do to help.
“I don’t want any kid to go hungry, and I know, as I have four kids myself, that the summer holidays can be expensive. If we as a community can just dip in and help a tiny bit, then that’s what it’s all about.”
During the first year, an anonymous man donated £50, which allowed the first 50 meals to be free. He also donated crisps and drinks to add to the meals.
The initiative soon took off with more and more people donating snacks and money which meant no one had to pay.
Since 2022, the initiative has grown with more donations coming in.
Rachel added: “We did it again last year, and the response from Hornsea was amazing again. Donations were made so we could add pieces of fruit to meals, and people were adding extra money on their bill in the cafe to pay for some meals for the kids. It’s amazing how much it has been accepted by people.”
Prior to the launch of the initiative this year, Rachel put an advert in the Hornsea Collective. “Rachel added: “Before I even had chance to put anything on social media about us doing it again, someone donated £200 towards the meals. It means we can add a few more things to the meals, like fruit and a drink, and still have it cover lots of kids’ lunches.”
