OVER 800 young people have been helped by Fife Council's Cafe Inc initiative this year.

The scheme – which provides meals for youngsters in the school holidays – was highlighted as a success at Thursday's meeting of Fife Council.

One councillor, Judy Hamilton, revealed she had written to Manchester United footballer Marcus Rashford to tell him about what they were doing to help combat holiday hunger.

"We believe school holidays are a challenge for every family," she said. "Hunger has not just been invented, It is not just a covid thing. Our working group tackling poverty has identified this ongoing issue.

"I have written to Marcus Rashford and highlighted Cafe Inc as an example of good practice. It is very clear the school meal element of the campaign is one that is good but it is a much broader thing.

"Going forward, we are asking the Scottish Government to look towards a sustainable and ongoing commitment. Council's such as Fife have prioritised making provision for holidays. Looking beyond covid, it is time to look at national and local partnerships to develop continuing provision.

"It should not be left to councils who are facing significant challenges ahead."

Cllr Hamilton's comments come after a motion from SNP Councillor Lesley Backhouse which asked councillors to show their support for Rashford's efforts.

It stated: "Fife Council believes that no child should go hungry in the school holidays. This Council fully supports Marcus Rashford in his campaign to ensure no child in the UK goes hungry in the school holidays.”

She told councillors: "I want to emphasise what we do here in Fife already. We are already providing school meals in the holidays and have been doing that for the last year and a half.

"I want to thank all those who have helped make Cafe Inc so successful. Where we are seeing such a level of poverty and food poverty amongst our most vulnerable, it is as a result of the Universal Credit system. We would not be seeing this level of poverty if we had some control of our funds here in Scotland."

Proposals from Councillor Gavin Ellis to amend the motion by adding the administration's support for Elaine Smith MSP's proposed Right to Food Bill was rejected by a vote of 57 to 14.

He expressed his disappointment at the decision.

"During the debate there was no disagreement about the efforts made by Fife Council officers or indeed third party organisations in delivering meals for our children in Fife, however we were dismayed to see both the Lib Dems and, most bizarrely, Labour conjoin with the SNP against a sensible amendment that sought for Fife Council to write to the Scottish administration providing our support for Elaine Smith MSP (Labour) and her proposed Right to Food Bill."

Fellow Conservative councillor, Dave Dempsey, added: “It’s sad that instead of trying to solve problems here in Fife, every party with a hand in running Fife for the past 20 years sticks their head in the sand and refuses to act.

"The Scottish Conservatives are the only party which supports not only feeding the poorest among us but also ensuring that they suffer neither stigma nor barriers when they try to get on in life.”

Councillor Altany Craik was unhappy that the motion had turned into political point scoring.

"This motion is proving once again that there is no bandwagon too small to be jumped on," he said. "We here have an absolute nonsense about independence and central banks. I am entirely embarrassed that the people of Fife have had to watch this. We should stop embarrassing ourselves and get through this."

Co-leader, Councillor David Ross, agreed. He added: "It is about holiday hunger and making sure our kids are fed. We should concentrate on what is important and get food in our kids' mouths."