Councillor Doherty helped secure £250,000 in funding as part of Belfast City Council’s £1m hardship fund package. The funding is also being used to make healthy snacks and free school meals available to those in need.
He commented: "I have spoken with many teachers who have seen more and more children going hungry as poverty has increased across Belfast and the North as a whole and that’s reflected in the uptake with over 120 clubs accessing this funding to help provide children with access to food as part of the school day.
“This policy has made a marked difference to the way our Council approaches poverty. We have empowered these schools to take direct action by supporting them with the funding to tackle these issues at their root. It’s heartbreaking to think of any child being left hungry, but the only way we will solve these problems is by tackling them head-on.”