Build community support

Grow petitions to MPs in key local hubs

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.

One way of doing that is ramping up the pressure in key towns and cities, where high levels of local support and key MPs give us the biggest chance to make a difference.

The strategy

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.

Share the local petitions

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.

Building 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
Ordering a print pack. These include signature sheets, posters and leaflets to help spread the word and grow the petitions. There's also a version for schools that includes activity sheets, stickers and MP postcards for a class of 30.
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

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

✍️ Direct link:

https://freeschoolmealsforall.org.uk/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

📦 Order a print pack

Each print pack contains materials to make it easy to build awareness and grow the petition in your area - from posters to leaflets to petition sheets to classroom activity sheets - to help you engage pupils, parents and carers and community members, and grow signatures on our petition calling for change.

📝Download and print the localised open letter signature sheet ⬇️

Copy of V2_NCLB_T1 Petition Papersheets_Birmingham.pdf

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

✍️Direct link:

https://freeschoolmealsforall.org.uk/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

📦 Order a print pack

Each print pack contains materials to make it easy to build awareness and grow the petition in your area - from posters to leaflets to petition sheets to classroom activity sheets - to help you engage pupils, parents and carers and community members, and grow signatures on our petition calling for change.

📝Download and print the localised open letter signature sheet ⬇️

Copy of V2_NCLB_T1 Petition Papersheets_Oldham.pdf

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://freeschoolmealsforall.org.uk/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

📦 Order a print pack

Each print pack contains materials to make it easy to build awareness and grow the petition in your area - from posters to leaflets to petition sheets to classroom activity sheets - to help you engage pupils, parents and carers and community members, and grow signatures on our petition calling for change.

📝Download and print the localised open letter signature sheet ⬇️

Copy of V2_NCLB_T1 Petition Papersheets_Sunderland.pdf

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

✍️Direct link:

https://freeschoolmealsforall.org.uk/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

📦 Order a print pack

Each print pack contains materials to make it easy to build awareness and grow the petition in your area - from posters to leaflets to petition sheets to classroom activity sheets - to help you engage pupils, parents and carers and community members, and grow signatures on our petition calling for change.

📝Download and print the localised open letter signature sheet here.

Copy of V2_NCLB_T1 Petition Papersheets_Trafford.pdf

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

✍️Direct link:

https://freeschoolmealsforall.org.uk/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

📦 Order a print pack

Each print pack contains materials to make it easy to build awareness and grow the petition in your area - from posters to leaflets to petition sheets to classroom activity sheets - to help you engage pupils, parents and carers and community members, and grow signatures on our petition calling for change.

📝Download and print the localised open letter signature sheet ⬇️

Copy of V2_NCLB_T1 Petition Papersheets_Wigan.pdf

If your constituency isn't listed but you want to organise a local open letter, contact us at campaigns@nochildleftbehind.org.uk