No child should have to go to bed hungry, but the UK’s latest statistics on child food poverty highlight a systemic problem that urgently needs tackling. Pre-Covid, 30% of all children across the country were living in poverty, while food insecurity in families with children has increased dramatically in lockdown.

With politicians largely failing to rectify the situation amid the pandemic, grassroots campaigners have been speaking out and applying pressure to the UK government. Perhaps the most high profile example is Manchester United footballer Marcus Rashford, who called on the government to change its policies on free school meals during the holidays in lockdown and narrated a child poverty campaign for Aldi last year, among other related initiatives.

Launched in response to the government’s new Healthy Start voucher, Rashford has joined forces with Michelin-starred chef Tom Kerridge on a new national campaign, Full Time: Get Cooking with Marcus & Tom.

The campaign, which aims to equip children with vital life skills to support their navigation into adult life, is supported by Facebook and Instagram and aims to eliminate stigma around the use of Healthy Start vouchers.

Kerridge has created 52 simple, family-friendly recipes as part of the 12-month-long programme, which encourages parents and carers to enjoy one hour of valuable time each week cooking with their children, and puts emphasis on recipes that use limited equipment and longer shelf life goods.

Recipes will be available to pick up in various forms from selected supermarkets every Sunday morning. Each recipe will feature a QR code linking through to the Full Time Instagram page, where users can access short-form tutorial videos hosted by Tom, Marcus and a selection of celebrity guests.

London-based design studio The Clearing was brought in to lead on the branding for Full Time, with a brief to develop the campaign’s visual identity, name and strategy.

The result is a colourful take on home cooking, which swaps off-putting, health-focused language for more casual phrases such as ‘Get stuck in’ and ‘It’s time to fill up’.

The mouth-shaped wordmark is inspired by smiles, while the rest of the identity features a scrapbook-like, cut-out illustration style and bright colour palette that draws on an array of different coloured ingredients.

“Following government investment into Healthy Start it was important to me that we demonstrated the power in collaboration. We needed to come up with a creative project that really engaged children most in need, preparing them for what adult life has to offer, whilst also attracting all children to break down stigma around usage of the vouchers,” says Rashford.

“This project is for every child and I really hope parents and carers will benefit from having a bit of valuable time together in the kitchen when family activity is heavily restricted by financial restraints. I’m proud of what we’ve done here, I’m thankful for Tom, thankful for the Child Food Poverty Task Force members, and I can’t wait to see what the response is.”

@fulltimemeals