AKSHATA MURTY visited a children’s charity and met pupils benefiting from its after-school meals programme, a spokesperson for the wife of former prime minister Rishi Sunak, said last Wednesday (26).
Murty, a philanthropist, visited the Akshaya Patra Foundation’s Watford kitchen, in northwest London, which was opened in 2020. It is the first international kitchen of the charity – founded in Bengaluru in 2000 – which serves 2.2 million children across India every school day.
At the Watford kitchen, Murty assisted the charity’s cooks as well as met students from Nottingham’s Strelley Academy, one of the first schools to adopt the foundation’s Hot Meals and Homework club model. The clubs, which operate in schools in areas of significant deprivation, provide additional nutrition and tuition for some of the UK’s most disadvantaged children.
The initiative aims to tackles the twin problems of food poverty and educational inequality by enabling children living in poorer communities to access a hot and nutritious meal, paired with extra teaching support at every after-school session.
During her visit, Murty shared a meal with the children and assisted them with their homework.
“My family and I have been very proud to play our part in Akshaya Patra’s incredible story, watching it grow to feed 2.2 million children every day across India. It is so important that the charity is also helping to change lives here in the UK and I am delighted to shine a spotlight on its brilliant initiative Hot Meals and Homework,” Murty said.
“Rishi and I are passionate about education and breaking down barriers to social mobility. I have been so impressed by what the Hot Meals and Homework programme is achieving for so many communities,” she added.
Murty recently co-founded her own charity that focuses on improving numeracy skills.
Purushottam Agrawal and Linda Hess in conversation with Sanjoy K Roy
Swaransh Mishra, Kirpal Singh Panesar and Rajvir Singh Bhachu