Healthy, fresh meals still on the menu for schools thanks to new contract

Article date: June 19 2025

Thanks to two new contracts - agreed by St Helens Borough Council's Cabinet, with suppliers Harlech Food Services Ltd and Ralph Livesey Ltd - the Schools Catering Service can continue to provide tasty and healthy food.

The service provides, on average, 10,400 school meals per day across primary, secondary and special schools. The service supports more than 60 schools on a daily basis and also delivers a catering service to the Taylor Park Boat House Café and Willowbees Café in Newton-le-Willows Health and Fitness Centre among other services.

Councillor Martin Bond, Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Finance and Governance, said: "Our Schools Catering Service is a vital programme we deliver as a council, with you, for you. It provides not just nutritious, fresh food to thousands of children every day, but also acts as a lifeline for families in need of support through the summer holidays through our Holiday Activities and Food (HAF) programme that means children on free school meals are still getting a meal outside of term time. These new contracts allow us to continue to give children healthy food and build on giving them the best start to life.

"These contractors have also made commitments to schemes and supplier engagement to support the local supply chain. Other social value activity includes tree planting, local employment, support for local communities, young people and local foodbanks, with a commitment to a specified number of hours of social value throughout the duration of contract duration."

The new contracts also mean the service meets the requirements for the National School Food Standards and the award criteria set as part of the services' Food for Life Bronze accreditation, including championing local produce, providing healthy food that is from environmentally sustainable sources. 

The contracts are vital to make sure 5,883 children eligible for free school meals have access to nutritious meals, for the provision of packed lunches in support of the HAF programme during school holidays and the continuation of work in collaboration with public health on initiatives to support children's health and wellbeing across the borough.