One of Greater Manchester’s biggest companies is today launching a campaign to ensure no child goes hungry at breakfast.

Trafford Park-based Kellogg’s will donate two million meals to school breakfast clubs in Britain’s most deprived neighbourhoods.

The firm – which is also backing the M.E.N’s campaign to end the scandal of child food poverty – also published shocking figures which suggest a surge in pupils now come to school hungry.

In research commissioned by the food giant, 28 per cent of teachers reported an increase in children attending without having had breakfast. And 25 per cent also claimed children had fallen asleep due to lack of food or poor nutrition.

The ‘Lost Education’ report suggest hungry primary pupils are losing up to 36 hours of learning time a year due to poor concentration.

And beyond the tragedy of individual children missing out on vital learning, the analysis concludes taxpayers are losing £5.2m a year in lost resources as teachers battle to ensure they keep up.

The findings back up a major campaign by the M.E.N to encourage politicians and businesses to recognise the pressures of cuts and rising bills on hard-hit families. Senior headteacher Pete Mountstephen, chair of the National Primary Headteachers, said it was a problem his members were all too familiar with.

He added: “It’s a shocking fact that children in our classrooms across the country are missing out on the very foundations of their education by not being fed in the morning.

“This shortfall in critical learning time could mean a child missing out on some of the essential basics taught at primary school to help their development before beginning their secondary education.

Although hundreds of school breakfast clubs have been set up over the last decade, the Trafford Park firm now plans to roll out more support to new and existing services.

Paul Wheeler, a senior Kellogg’s director, said: “We have become more and more concerned about the effect that the vital lack of brain fuel, in the morning, is having on our children’s education.

“Kellogg’s commissioned this important study to uncover the extent of children affected by this problem, and it’s shocking findings show that the vital work which we and our partners carry out as part of our Breakfast Club programme has become more important than ever.

“Through our Help Give a Child a Breakfast campaign, we are determined to reach even more children in need.”

To find out more, visit giveachildabreakfast.co.uk

Get the new free Manchester Evening News app:

Download to your Android device from the Google Play store here

Download to your iOS device from the App Store store here