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News in-depth: School meals service recognised by top award
2 Nov 2011

A school meals service is sure to be celebrating after being presented with a top prize at this year's Educatering Magazine awards.

Bolton Council picked up the Local Authority Caterer of the Year trophy thanks to the range of measures it has taken to boost the profile of midday meals for children.

These involved campaigning to increase take-up of hot dinners over packed lunches, securing partnerships with local community stakeholders and dropping the price of school dinners for each child.

In fact, primary pupils in Bolton now only pay £1.25 per day, making their meals the cheapest in the UK.

However, this accolade is not the first for Bolton's school meals providers, as they also took home the Education Catering Marketing gong at July's Local Authority Caterers' Association awards.

Local councillor Akhtar Zaman said the whole team is delighted.

"Our success is down to the support from schools, loyal parents who continue to take advantage of the offer and also our hardworking school kitchen staff and management," he added.

With take-up of school meals so high, it may be that Bolton Council is thinking of bringing in cashless catering in all its primary institutions to ensure that mealtimes go smoothly and children do not have to queue for too long.

If it did, schools would not be the only locations to benefit from the use of eMoney in the northern city.

Bolton Council paired up with contactless smartcard provider sQuid back in 2007, making it one of the first local authorities in the country to take the step.

Some 28,000 cards were distributed to local residents for a variety of uses, meaning they could begin to access services without having to carry their wallets around at all times.

For instance, the University of Bolton card allows students to use eMoney in local participating shops, as well as on campus, while the BSmart card offers similar facilities for those under 16.

However, older people are not left out either, as they can use the Bolton Smart card to access the library and local leisure centre.

This is one UK location that is really embracing the benefits of a cashless society!