A HEALTHY eating club designed to help ease holiday hunger among local children launches this half term at Lancing Manor Leisure Centre.

Adur District is the most deprived district in West Sussex with many families struggling to feed their children during the school holidays.

It’s part of a growing problem in the UK.

According to a poll conducted by the National Union of Education this summer, nearly four in five teachers believe that holiday hunger is affecting more children now than it did three years ago with many young people simply not getting enough food during the school holidays.

To support local families, charitable organisation Adur Community Leisure, which manages Lancing Manor under the Impulse Leisure brand, is launching the Adur Grub Club this October after securing £6,860 from the National Lottery Awards for All.

The club will provide healthy lunches for local children aged seven to 13 who receive free school meals.

At each session, children will learn how to prepare and cook a two-course meal under the guidance of a trained chef.

Then while the meal is cooking, they can take part in a variety of sports and play activities with a qualified sports coach from Impulse Leisure to meet the government’s target of 60 minutes of daily physical activity.

Afterwards, the children will sit and eat together to encourage further social interaction among the group.

Adur Community Leisure will work in partnership with Adur and Worthing Councils’ local Wellbeing Team, who will signpost children to the Grub Club through the local Integrated Prevention Early Help team, key workers, school referrals and other local agencies.

Andrew Dunstan, Contracts Manager at Impulse Leisure, said: “Holiday hunger is a real issue for many families in Adur and can severely impact children’s health and wellbeing.

“We are delighted that thanks to National Lottery funding we can support local families during the holidays by combining healthy eating, cookery skills and physical activity through the new Adur Grub Club.”

Impulse Leisure has registered charity status and is a not-for-profit organisation.

It operates four leisure facilities in the West Sussex regions.