CHILDREN in Ayr and Girvan will be provided with free meals during the school summer holidays.

These areas have the highest levels of poverty in the district, with 1,577 of primary four to sixth years entitled to free school meals.

In July last year, Cathy Campbell of St Paul’s Justice and Peace Group submitted a petition to the council.

She said: “I am asking the council to pay. We would like a hot meal which is quite difficult but we have been providing a bagged packed lunch which has gone down well. North Ayrshire and East Ayrshire are doing this why can’t South Ayrshire?”

An application for £10,000 is now being made for South Ayrshire Council’s allocation of funds from the Lintel Trust.

Speaking at the council’s leadership panel last week, head of communities at South Ayrshire Council, Claire Monaghan, said: “We are concentrating on Ayr north and Girvan areas because they are the areas of greatest need.”

For Ayr North the council will work in partnership with St Columba’s Church in Lochside to provide up to 500 healthy packed lunches daily for those taking part in the summer activity programmes.

For Girvan, they will use a mixture of in-house and external catering staff to provide healthy packed lunches for up to 70 children and young people taking part in Council summer programme activities and some activity organised by Girvan Youth Trust.

Ms Monaghan, added: “It is a toe in the water so we are going to evaluate it and bring forward a report to the September leadership panel which will help identify if the programme can be continued.”

Councillor Brian McGinley, commented: “This is a response to a community petition and that is a good example that we are listening to people. We need to get to the stage where every child has the opportunity to not be hungry.”

Councillor Douglas Campbell, Leader of South Ayrshire Council, concluded: “This additional support will help feed and nurture our children and young people, at a time when many families struggle to make ends meet.”

A report outlining the impact of the project is scheduled in September.