Build community support
Invite people in your community to sign the open letter
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The campaign for Free School Meals for All is pressing on to win hot, healthy dinners for every child in primary school.
We’re building on the momentum of our latest win when the Government pledged to roll out Free School Meals to 500,000 more children from families on Universal Credit, starting from September 2026.
To do that, we’re ramping up the pressure from multiple directions.
Open letter to the Prime Minister
We’re continuing to build our open letter calling on the Prime Minister to extend Free School Meals to every child in primary school
We presented the open letter with over 22,000 signatures at in September, but we're still not stopping there.
Can your organisation help gather more support for the open letter? No action is too big or too small. You can send an email to your mailing list, put out petition sheets at a local stall or post the petition link on your social media.
Local petitions in Birmingham, Greater Manchester Area and Sunderland
We've seen what local organisations can achieve when they come together. In Liverpool, civil society groups united with teachers, parents and pupils have been on national TV, travelled to Downing Street to make their demands, they've won a commitment from the Liverpool Council Leader to pilot Free School Meals for All in their city.
We’ve shown what’s possible when we get organised in our communities. That's why we're now building new hubs of activity in Birmingham, Sunderland and across towns in the Greater Manchester Area that can win over local MPs, Metro Mayors and create opportunities to influence the Prime Minister.
Our local petitions target MPs in: Birmingham, Oldham, Trafford, Wigan and Sunderland, home to the Education Secretary.
If your organisation covers areas that include one of these towns/cities, then jump straight to this section to see how you can build support where you are to show your local MPs just how popular and overdue Free School Meals for All is.
On this page we provide resources to gather petition signatures, in person or online.
Visit the ‘Grow the coalition’ page at this link for resources on how to sign up fellow organisations.
1. Share the open letter to the Prime Minister
1. Share the open letter to the Prime Minister
Help us build support for the open letter by inviting community members to sign the open letter alongside the 350+ civil society organisations, public figures and parliamentarians who have already added their name.
Whether your organisation is a place of worship, a sports club, a food bank, school or something else, you can spark conversations and collect signatures from people in your community and help grow the call for Free School Meals for All.
Use this toolkit and its resources to encourage others to join the movement by asking them to add their name to our open letter to the Prime Minister.
This page includes resources on how to share the open letter with your community.
Share the open letter in your newsletter or with your mailing list
Share the open letter in your newsletter or with your mailing list
Use and adapt the template email to share the open letter online and ask people on your mailing list to add their name
Collect signatures from people in your community for the open letter
Collect signatures from people in your community for the open letter
Download and print out the signature collection sheet below and ask people to sign the open letter.
You can print these sheets and keep them at the entrance of your organisation – whether it's a place of worship, a community food bank or pantry or local sports club.
Once you have a filled petition sheet, scan or take a photo of it and send it to us at campaigns@nochildleftbehind.org.uk.
Remember to shred/destroy the print copy once you have sent it to us.
[SHARED] Prime Minister Keir Starmer petition—national.pdf2. Build support for local petitions
2. Build support for local petitions
These petitions are also chances to strengthen support in key local hubs and show local politicians that their constituents expect them to do everything in their power to end child hunger in our schools, and back every child to learn and thrive.
If your organisation covers any of these towns or cities, you can get stuck in by:
Distributing the link to the petition
Sharing the local petition in a newsletter or on social media
Downloading and printing signature sheets to gather signatures in-person - whether you're organising a local stall, or handing these out at a school reception hall, during community meetings or events or while providing services.
See below for relevant links for each area.
Birmingham
Birmingham
The Birmingham local petition is jointly addressed to all Birmingham MPs:
Tahir Ali, MP for Birmingham Hall Green and Moseley
Liam Byrne, MP for Birmingham Hodge Hill and Solihull North
Al Carns, Labour MP for Birmingham Selly Oak
Preet Gill, MP for Birmingham Edgbaston
Paulette Hamilton, MP for Birmingham Erdington
Ayoub Khan, MP for Birmingham Perry Barr
Shabana Mahmood, MP for Birmingham Ladywood
Andrew Mitchell, MP for Sutton Coldfield
Jess Phillips, MP for Birmingham Yardley
Laurence Turner, MP for Birmingham Northfield
https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/birmingham-petition/?source=coalitiontoolkit
If you would like a specific tracked link for your organisation, please contact the team at campaigns@nochildleftbehind.org.uk with "Target area petition" in the subject line.
📝Share in a newsletter
[Organisation name] is proud to support Free School Meals for every primary school child in England. Because every child should have a hot, nutritious dinner at school so that they can learn and thrive.
A hot school dinner for every child every day would support our children’s health and learning, reduce stigma and give busy families a boost. Free School Meals for All is already a reality in Wales and across London. Why are children in the rest of England still waiting?
We’ve joined the open letter calling on MPs in Birmingham to support the call for Free School Meals for All. If you live, work or send your child to school in Birmingham, will you add your name too?
Sign the open letter online here.
🔁 Share on social media
Extending Free School Meals to every child in primary school would support busy families, and give every child the nutrition they need to learn and thrive.
We’re asking MPs in Birmingham to please back #FreeSchoolMealsForAll so every primary school child can have the same chance to learn and grow, together.
Sign here: https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/birmingham-petition/?source=coalitiontoolkit
📝Download and print the localised open letter signature sheet ⬇️
Copy of V2_NCLB_T1 Petition Papersheets_Birmingham.pdfOldham
Oldham
The Oldham local petition is jointly addressed to all Oldham MPs:
Debbie Abrahams, Labour MP for Oldham East and Saddleworth
Jim McMahon, Labour MP for Oldham West, Chadderton and Royton
Lucy Powell, Labour MP for Manchester Central
https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/oldham-petition/?source=coalitiontoolkit
If you would like a specific tracked link for your organisation, please contact the team at campaigns@nochildleftbehind.org.uk with "Target area petition" in the subject line.
📝Share in a newsletter
[Organisation name] is proud to support Free School Meals for every primary school child in England. Because every child should have a hot, nutritious dinner at school so that they can learn and thrive.
A hot school dinner for every child every day would support our children’s health and learning, reduce stigma and give busy families a boost. Free School Meals for All is already a reality in Wales and across London. Why are children in the rest of England still waiting?
We’ve joined the open letter calling on MPs in Oldham to support the call for Free School Meals for All. If you live, work or send your child to school in Oldham, will you add your name too?
Sign the open letter online here.
🔁 Share on social media
Food is an essential for learning. Every child in primary school should be able to have a hot, nutritious school dinner, every day.
We're asking all Oldham MPs to back #FreeSchoolMealsForAll so no child misses out on the food they need to learn. Sign the petition now: https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/oldham-petition/?source=coalitiontoolkit
📝Download and print the localised open letter signature sheet ⬇️
Copy of V2_NCLB_T1 Petition Papersheets_Oldham.pdfSunderland
Sunderland
The Sunderland local petition is jointly addressed to all Sunderland MPs:
Lewis Atkinson, MP for Sunderland Central
Sharon Hodgson, MP for Washington and Gateshead South (in coalition: signed open letter)
Bridget Phillipson, MP for Houghton and Sunderland South
✍️ Direct link:
https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/sunderland-petition/?source=coalitiontoolkit
If you would like a specific tracked link for your organisation, please contact the team at campaigns@nochildleftbehind.org.uk with "Target area petition" in the subject line.
📝Share in a newsletter
[Organisation name] is proud to support Free School Meals for every primary school child in England. Because every child should have a hot, nutritious dinner at school so that they can learn and thrive.
A hot school dinner for every child every day would support our children’s health and learning, reduce stigma and give busy families a boost. Free School Meals for All is already a reality in Wales and across London. Why are children in the rest of England still waiting?
We’ve joined the open letter calling on MPs in Sunderland to support the call for Free School Meals for All. If you live, work or send your child to school in Sunderland, will you add your name too?
Sign the open letter online here.
🔁 Share on social media
No matter what's happening in the country, no child should go hungry at school. We're asking all Sunderland MPs to back #FreeSchoolMealsForAll so every primary school child has the basics to learn and thrive. Add your name here: https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/sunderland-petition/?source=coalitiontoolkit
📝Download and print the localised open letter signature sheet ⬇️
Copy of V2_NCLB_T1 Petition Papersheets_Sunderland.pdfTrafford
Trafford
The Trafford local petition is jointly addressed to:
Mike Kane, MP for Wythenshawe and Sale East
Connor Rand, MP for Altrincham and Sale West
Andrew Western, MP for Stretford and Urmston
https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/trafford-petition/?source=coalitiontoolkit
If you would like a specific tracked link for your organisation, please contact the team at campaigns@nochildleftbehind.org.uk with "Target area petition" in the subject line.
📝Share in a newsletter
[Organisation name] is proud to support Free School Meals for every primary school child in England. Because every child should have a hot, nutritious dinner at school so that they can learn and thrive.
A hot school dinner for every child every day would support our children’s health and learning, reduce stigma and give busy families a boost. Free School Meals for All is already a reality in Wales and across London. Why are children in the rest of England still waiting?
We’ve joined the open letter calling on MPs in Trafford to support the call for Free School Meals for All. If you live, work or send your child to school in Trafford, will you add your name too?
Sign the open letter online here.
🔁 Share on social media
In Wales and in London, every child in primary school child gets a free school dinner, every day. We can do it for children all across England too.
We’re asking all Trafford MPs to back #FreeSchoolMealsForAll for a strong, more equal start for every child. Add your name here: https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/trafford-petition/?source=coalitiontoolkit
📝Download and print the localised open letter signature sheet here.
Copy of V2_NCLB_T1 Petition Papersheets_Trafford.pdfWigan
Wigan
The Wigan local petition is jointly addressed to:
Lisa Nandy, MP for Wigan
Jo Platt, MP for Leigh and Atherton
Josh Simons, MP for Makerfield
Michael Wheeler, MP for Worsley and Eccles
https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/wigan-petition/?source=coalitiontoolkit
If you would like a specific tracked link for your organisation, please contact the team at campaigns@nochildleftbehind.org.uk with "Target area petition" in the subject line.
📝Share in a newsletter
[Organisation name] is proud to support Free School Meals for every primary school child in England. Because every child should have a hot, nutritious dinner at school so that they can learn and thrive.
A hot school dinner for every child every day would support our children’s health and learning, reduce stigma and give busy families a boost. Free School Meals for All is already a reality in Wales and across London. Why are children in the rest of England still waiting?
We’ve joined the open letter calling on all MPs in Wigan to support the call for Free School Meals for All. If you live, work or send your child to school in Wigan, will you add your name too?
Sign the open letter online here.
🔁 Share on social media
Free School Meals for every child in primary school would support the health and learning of every child (not to mention giving busy parents and carers a boost!).
We’re asking MPs in Wigan to back #FreeSchoolMealsForAll so every primary school child can learn and grow. You can sign the local petition here: https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/wigan-petition/?source=coalitiontoolkit
📝Download and print the localised open letter signature sheet ⬇️
Copy of V2_NCLB_T1 Petition Papersheets_Wigan.pdfIf your constituency isn't listed but you want to organise a local open letter, contact us at campaigns@nochildleftbehind.org.uk
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