# ‘We run a lunch club – but we need people to feed’ – BBC

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/we-run-a-lunch-club-but-we-need-people-to-feed-bbc/
- Published: 2026-08-11T06:02:18+00:00
- Updated: 2026-08-24T04:02:33+00:00
- Original publisher: 🔎 Sheffield
- Original article: https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMiXEFVX3lxTFB1R2x0YWtlSHFwZWxCYlpEU2V6QkhnT0Q1elRZUHJHRl9vTTF1WXd4ZkR4enNjRWI0S3lQN0hLZG9FQ0ZHVDN0WjdET003c1RQVHhRS2xwQS13MENl?oc=5
- Topics: Geopolitics, Politics, Sheffield

## Key points

- A Sheffield couple, Melvyn and Carolyn Newton, opened a free school-holiday lunch club at St Margaret's Church in Wincobank
- The drop-in service runs Tuesdays and Thursdays, 12pm-2pm, with no referral needed, but is struggling with low attendance
- Organisers say they have food, volunteers and space ready but need more local families to know about and use the service

## Summary

A couple in Sheffield have set up a free lunch club for children and their parents over the school summer holidays, but say their main problem is a shortage of people turning up rather than a shortage of food. Melvyn Newton, 65, and his wife Carolyn, 56, launched the drop-in service at St Margaret's Church in Wincobank, which runs on Tuesdays and Thursdays between midday and 2pm, offering hot meals with no referral or booking required. Melvyn, who has previously run similar schemes in Manchester and worked with the charity Food Works, said feeding people had 'always been my passion', having done it both on the streets and in church halls, and pointed out that families can struggle during the school holidays when they lose access to free school meals.

Despite having food, volunteers and kitchen facilities in place, the club has reported low footfall, with organisers saying too few local people are aware it exists. The couple, who have recently become foster parents, said this had limited the time available to promote the service further, and they are now appealing for wider community awareness so that families who need support know the lunch club is there for them. The story, reported by BBC News, highlights a broader issue facing holiday food provision schemes: that visibility and outreach can be as significant a challenge as funding or resources when it comes to reaching families experiencing hardship during school breaks.

## Coverage

- [🔎 Sheffield: ‘We run a lunch club – but we need people to feed’ – BBC](https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMiXEFVX3lxTFB1R2x0YWtlSHFwZWxCYlpEU2V6QkhnT0Q1elRZUHJHRl9vTTF1WXd4ZkR4enNjRWI0S3lQN0hLZG9FQ0ZHVDN0WjdET003c1RQVHhRS2xwQS13MENl?oc=5)
- [feeds.bbci.co.uk: 'We run a lunch club - but we need people to feed'](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/crrvkvvllx5o?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=rss)
- [BBC News: 'We run a lunch club - but we need people to feed'](https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/crrvkvvllx5o)
- [AOL (syndicated): 'We run a lunch club - but we need people to feed'](https://www.aol.com/articles/run-lunch-club-people-feed-050915000.html)

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Summarised by TalkFuse (https://talkfuse.com/). Quote the original publisher for the reporting and link this page for the summary and discussion.