Liverpool City Council will provide free school meals for the city’s poorest kids during the half-term break.
Council leader Joe Anderson announced the initiative on Friday to help families unable to feed their children during next week’s schools holiday.
Approximately 20,000 schoolkids will have access to much-needed food.
England footballer Marcus Rashford had campaigned to extend the meal voucher scheme so that kids from poor families would not go hungry.
But a motion tabled by Labour backing the Manchester United star’s calls was defeated earlier this week in the House of Commons by Conservative MPs.
Local authorities and businesses across the country have responded to the setback by offering to help out the most disadvantaged in their area.
Several other regions joined Merseyside in entering Tier 3 of coronavirus lockdown restrictions which will have a considerable impact on livelihoods.
“We’ve all seen Marcus Rashford’s campaign and I and my colleagues have all been really worried about kids going hungry in this city,” said Mayor Anderson.
“In some parts of Liverpool, 70% of children are living in poverty right now.
“So today I am announcing that the council will stand by these kids and extend our own voucher scheme to make sure that 20,000 children will get the food they desperately need over the holiday.
“Times are tough for this council and we have been hit hard, but we will never lose sight of how hard things are for people who are trying to make ends meet in this city and I’m proud to announce this support today.”
He added: “Hopefully this will make things a little bit easier for the families just trying to put food on their tables for their children in Liverpool.”