Feeding Children in Hard Times

Feeding Children in Hard Times is an interactive workshop at The Hide on Tuesday 27 October, from 12:00 to 13:30. It's led by Dr Heather Ellis from the University of Sheffield's School of Education, and it comes out of an ESRC-funded project called The UK School Meals Service: Past, Present and Future.

The session looks at how school meals have helped families manage the cost of feeding children for more than a century, and how those lessons might point towards a better system today. It starts with illustrated talks and oral history recordings from pupils, parents and dinner ladies, which open up stories of stigma, hunger, care and family finances. After that, researchers, practitioners and policymakers gather to discuss school food standards, child poverty and the expansion of the free school meals programme. There are hands-on children's activities running at the same time, so it's one you can bring the kids along to.

The workshop is part of the ESRC Festival of Social Science 2026, which is hosted by the University of Sheffield and Sheffield Hallam University and funded by the Economic and Social Research Council. The Sheffield programme is centred on money, finance and the cost of living, so this fits right into that theme. The Hide is at 30 Scotland Street, S3 7AA, and entry is free.