Glinn Hambidge was watching the news at the end of last week when he decided something should be done to help families in need.

The manager of Western Community Centre in Somerset Road said: “I saw a post on social media from a young lady asking for some milk to feed her child because she couldn’t go out because she had coronavirus. Not one person had replied to her. I was somewhat dismayed and disgusted by that.

“I just thought I need to do something.”

Glinn started his campaign Feed all Children Swindon to provide free packed lunches to children during this half-term. From Monday to Sunday sandwiches, fruit, crisps and a biscuit will be available to any child who needs it, along with a sachet of porridge for the next days breakfast.

“One of the key things for me is that people don’t have to justify themselves,” said Glinn. “If it helps them for their children to have a free sandwich, then that’s good enough for me.

“It’s about feeding children and nothing else matters. Children deserve the right to have access to food,” he said.

The Feed all Children Swindon campaign gave out 300 pack lunches yesterday and expects to have given out 500 more today. After starting a Facebook page and a Go Fund Me page over the weekend, more than £1,000 was raised in 24 hours.

Glinn partnered with businesses and organisations including Even Swindon Community Centre, Central Swindon North Parish Council, Franklins’s Food Swindon and Weighbride Steakhouse & Bar, which were giving away free lunches, to coordinate deliveries and set up collection points for families.

Steve Nell, managing director for Swindon Wildcats, had initially joined forces with his wife who owns the sandwich shop Franklins’s Food Swindon, to offer free lunches. Over the weekend Arval, one of the Wildcats’ community sponsors donated £5,000 to the scheme allowing them to contribute to Glinn’s campaign.

Steve said: “If we can do our bit and do something positive to make sure kids don’t go hungry that’s the bottom line for us.

Aaron Webb, Youth Worker for Central Swindon North Parish Council has been helping coordinate deliveries of lunches.

“There’s been a lot of redundancies made in certain organisations and there’s been a lot of hard times for families across Swindon recently,” he said. “It’s been fantastic to see so many businesses and organisations coming together to help.”h