Salvation Army helps families avoid parent poverty trap this summer

More than a third of parents (35%) plan to skip meals so their children can go to holiday club, according to a new survey by The Salvation Army.  

The snapshot survey also found of those parents asked: 

• 36% cannot afford to pay for childcare over summer.  

• 36% said they can’t afford to take time off to care for their children during the summer break.

• 30% will not be able to afford to take their children on any sort of holiday[i]

To ensure that vulnerable children have a chance to relax and play over the summer, the church and charity will be hosting summer camps, activity days with crafts and games, film clubs, and providing breakfast and lunch for thousands of children across the UK and Ireland over the next few weeks. 

Many Salvation Army churches are also providing school uniform exchanges to support parents with the cost of kitting their kids out for the new school term.  

Major Kerry Coke, The Salvation Army’s Assistant Secretary for Mission, said: “The summer holidays are meant to be a time of joy and fun but poverty can rob children of the chance to play and explore. 

“It’s not just the cost of food, but the cost of activities has soared. Then when the new school term approaches, buying school uniform is an added financial burden.

“Our officers and volunteers up and down the country are doing what we can to help vulnerable children have some summer joy in their lives, whether it’s running our own camps, organising summer club activities or helping parents in practical ways with school uniform swaps, lunch clubs and foodbanks.”

Jessica* a single mum of seven, turned to The Salvation Army after being affected by the two-child benefit limit and was struggling to make her Universal Credit stretch. 

She said: “The Universal Credit payments I receive go on bills and rent. Then if I need to buy a school uniform or anything else for my kids it comes out of whatever is left over, and then if any unexpected bill comes in, I panic. My Universal Credit payments basically go on everything but food at the minute so I have to get that support where I can.

“There have been times where I will go without food myself, sometimes weeks without a proper meal, so my kids can eat, and I’ll finish any of the leftovers that the children leave on their plate. It’s horrible to live like this and it’s horrible to think of anyone having to resort to those measures, but needs must, and for me, it is my reality. 

“I’m really just surviving each day. I get what I can from food projects and support from places like The Salvation Army.”

The Salvation Army is supporting families with a variety of activities including: 

• School uniform in Shipley, Forest of Dean, Gateshead, Faversham, Guildford and across London including Hackney, Mare Street.
• Free meals in Winton, Dorset, every Wednesday throughout August.
• A weekly breakfast and activity morning for families in Feltham, London.
• Lunches and activities for children during summer community days in County Durham.
• Free meals and fun activities for children in Newark at their Toasties Café. 

*This story is real but name has been changed to protect identity. 

[1] Fieldwork conducted from an online panel by nfpResearch as part of the nfpPublic UK research programme in May 2025. Base size is 299 parents with children under 18 at home from a nationally representative sample of 1,000