Tesco is investing £4 million in a scheme to provide thousands of Runcorn schoolchildren with daily fruit and vegetables.

The initiative, named Tesco Fruit & Veg for Schools, is a collaboration with the British Nutrition Foundation and Groundwork UK.

It aims to supply students from seven Runcorn schools with at least one piece of fruit or veg each day.

Participating schools are Astmoor Primary School, St Augustine's Catholic Primary School, The Grange School, Murdishaw West Community Primary School, Ormiston Bolingbroke Academy, Gorsewood Primary School, and Windmill Hill Primary School.

The scheme is directed at schools with a higher-than-average free school meal ratio, ensuring that children from low-income families receive a nutritious boost to their diets.

Across the UK, 400 schools will benefit from the initiative, receiving around 16 million pieces of fruit and vegetables.

This equates to an average of 110 portions per child over the school year.

The initiative comes in response to research by the charity FareShare, which found that 28 per cent of teachers across England had brought in food for pupils in the last term.

This is an increase from 26 per cent in the summer term of 2023.

A survey by brand and social impact agency We Are Futures also revealed that 71 per cent of teachers would prioritise the availability of ‘fruit and veg for all pupils’ if more funding was available.

Currently, only 12 per cent of children aged between 11 and 18 meet the five-a-day fruit and veg recommendation.

Tesco expects the scheme to increase the overall fruit and veg intake of participating children by 23 per cent.

The British Nutrition Foundation estimates that this would increase intakes by 7 per cent for vitamin A, 25 per cent for vitamin C, 14 per cent for folate, and 10 per cent for fibre, based on average intakes of these nutrients in children.

Ken Murphy, Tesco Group Chief Executive, said: "Our aim is to enable schools to provide enough fruit and veg for every child to have at least one piece every day.

"Tesco Fruit & Veg for Schools will make a real difference by providing something that young people look forward to receiving every day, and we hope it will be another little nudge to get them eating healthy food."

The scheme will allow participating schools to shop for the fruit and veg they need in stores local to their school.

Elaine Hindal, Chief Executive of the British Nutrition Foundation, said: "We welcome this significant investment from Tesco to help improve the diets of our young people.

"By targeting funding to pupils in areas in need of a little extra help, this is a meaningful and impactful intervention.

"Beyond the funding, we’re excited to strengthen the support with educational resources that will help teachers inspire pupils and foster an ambition to develop healthy habits for these pupils to take through life."

Focusing on areas with higher free school meal participation is particularly important because data shows that families on lower incomes struggle to afford a healthy diet.

Minister for Public Health and Prevention, Andrew Gwynne, said: "With only one-in-five children eating the recommended portions of fruit and veg a day, it’s fantastic to see Tesco’s commitment to helping children access healthier foods.

"We're committed to giving every child the best start in life, by funding healthy free breakfast clubs across the country, so that pupils start the day with hungry minds - not bellies."