CHILDREN suffering with holiday hunger are having their prayers answered by a network of churches in Darlington.

Darlington Methodist Circuit are working with the charity Make Lunch to offer free lunches to children who would usually have a free school meal during term time.

There are around two million children nationally eligible for free school meals and the more deprived wards of Darlington are over the national average in the numbers of children who qualify.

After a successful pilot lunch scheme at Northland Methodist Church during the annual holiday club last year, a new Northland Make Lunch club will give families some respite from overstretched purses over the long summer break.

There will be a free nutritious hot meal for children, soup and sandwiches for parents, along with childrens activities and games.

Methodist Circuit Children and Young People’s Worker Morvyn Sanderson said: “We want to try to support families and make sure everyone’s holidays are fun and happy, we hope that the Northland Make Lunch project will enable this to happen.”

The Lunch project will be running on a Monday, Wednesday and Friday from August 1 at the Northland Methodist Church on North Road between 11.45 am and 1.30 pm.

Children will need to be registered and this can be done in advance to help catering.

The ‘Joyful Noise’ holiday club for primary age children will take place between July 25 to 29 for a week of fun, music, games and crafts all linked to Bible stories and lunch will be served after holiday club.