Balloons and an edible fruit bouquet made an unusual start to the day for breakfast club pupils at Castleview Primary School in Edinburgh. The school hosted a celebration on behalf of charity Magic Breakfast to help mark five years of support from players of People's Postcode Lottery.
Players of People's Postcode Lottery have supported Magic Breakfast since 2014 and have raised over £1.6 Million.
This funding has enabled the charity to grow significantly, from a small organisation providing healthy breakfasts to around 8,500 schoolchildren at risk of hunger in the morning, to one that now reaches well over 40,000 children.
Magic Breakfast started in England, but players of People's Postcode Lottery were pivotal in enabling and supporting the charity's expansion into Scotland in 2017. More than 1,200 schoolchildren are now benefiting from Magic Breakfast provision in Scotland, including 490 pupils in Edinburgh.
Magic Breakfast's mission is to end hunger as a barrier to education in UK schools by offering free, nutritious breakfasts and expert support. School breakfast clubs have been shown to improve educational outcomes for disadvantaged children. Independent research by the Institute for Fiscal Studies found that pupils in primary schools offering a free, nutritious Magic Breakfast boosted their maths and literacy results by an average of two months' progress over the course of a year, compared to children in schools with no such breakfast provision.
Castleview Primary School formed a partnership with Magic Breakfast in June 2017. Their breakfast club reaches around 25 children each school day, with many more pupils able to grab a bagel before class from trays placed in public areas of the school.
Clare Langley, Headteacher of Castleview Primary School, said: "Eating a healthy breakfast is so important for children so that they can start morning lessons settled and ready to learn. We are very grateful to Magic Breakfast and to players of People's Postcode Lottery for helping to ensure our pupils can get the most out of their education."
Alex Cunningham, CEO of Magic Breakfast, added: "On behalf of all children who are now having a healthy breakfast each school day, we would like to say a huge thank you to players of People's Postcode Lottery for five incredible years of support."