Asda is offering free meals for children throughout December as part of their efforts to support families across the UK.

All 216 of the supermarket's cafes will be taking part, and will allow children under the age of 16 to enjoy a meal completely free of charge when accompanied by an adult.

Available in Tier 1, 2 and 3

The supermarket expects to serve around 215,000 free meals to children at its cafes during December, with the freebie to be available in Tier 1, Tier 2 and Tier 3 areas.

Those who lived in an area subject to Tier 3 Covid restrictions will still be able to collect a meal, but must do so via Asda’s takeaway service instead.

Both hot and cold menu items will be up for grabs, including fish fingers, chicken nuggets, or sandwiches, and will come served with a drink and a piece of fruit.

There is no minimum spend requirement to get a free meal and there are no restrictions on the number of children in a family or group that can take advantage of the offer. The only stipulation is that youngsters under the age of 16 are accompanied by an adult.

The offer will run up to 31 December, excluding Christmas Day as stores will be closed.

Christmas kindness

The free meals for children is part of Asda’s Christmas kindness campaign, which aims to support local communities during difficult times.

The move comes following an announcement from Asda this month stating it would be providing an additional one million meals to support local food banks and charities over the festive period through its Fight Hunger Create Change partnership, which supports the Trussell Trust and FairShare.

Donations will primarily come from Asda’s back of store donation programme which sends food to local charities and community groups. The supermarket’s 387 Community Champions will also make donations on behalf of the store to their local food banks.

Generous customers are also being asked to support their local community by picking up an extra item and donating it to the food bank collection trolley in store.

Explaining the campaign, Richard Dent, Asda’s Vice President for Fresh Food, said, “We know that it’s been a really difficult year for families across the UK with many having to turn to food banks and local community groups for support, which is why we want to support as many children as we can during the festive period by offering them a meal in one of our cafes.

“I’m really proud that through our Fight Hunger Create Change programme, we are able to continue to support our local communities, especially at this time of year.”