The boy with the red apples

On another bitter, dark winter's morning at a high school in Salford, the headteacher arrives to find children already standing in the car park waiting for it to open.

It's 7.15am and school doesn't start for well over an hour, but they're early for a reason - because here they won't be shivering with cold, and their stomachs won't ache with hunger.

It's happening more and more across Greater Manchester. Schools are becoming places not just for an education - but an extra emergency service, helping families with what should be considered the basics; food, warmth and decent clothes to wear.

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As other services fray, for parents stretched by low wages, years of austerity, and the pressure of rising costs everywhere, schools have become a safety net like never before.

It's a reality the headteacher Zarina Ali, of Co-op Academy Swinton, knows only too well. Among the regulars at the school's breakfast club is a young boy. He comes so often that his favourite red apples are bought in especially for him.

""He puts one in his left pocket and one in his right pocket," says Zarina. "He puts a yoghurt in his bag and he takes a bagel and some cereal and goes to the back radiator to sit where the heating is on."

The place is warmed up ready to welcome students first thing. The early school drop-off means parents can get some extra hours in at work. In the manual jobs many of them have, those extra hours can make a huge difference at the end of each month.

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But, for some pupils, it's a sanctuary away from their cold and overcrowded homes, somewhere warm they can sit and do their homework before class.

It's upsetting to hear. Zarina knows what a sad indictment of society it is to have children and families so reliant on external support.

But she's also proud of the 'beautiful environment' they have created at the Sefton Road school and says it's what keeps pupils coming through the doors.

Back when she first took over the school, almost three years ago, her mission was to 'poverty proof' the place - making sure every pupil has what they need, from blazers and backpacks, to shoes and stationery.

Amid the cost of living crisis, Zarina says the need for school to step up with such financial support has never been greater. At this school, and across Greater Manchester, Manchester United is playing a big role, showing how, as the state struggles to meet demand, organisations and individuals outside government are trying to help fill the gaps.

The academy is a partner school of the Manchester United Foundation, the football club's associated charity. As part of that it's had coats and other winter clothing donated to the kids.

There's now a clothing rail set up in the school's reception area where pupils can help themselves to a coat if needed. But the support goes way beyond that.

"We don't want any child to be disadvantaged because of uniform or equipment," she says. "We've had parents in tears over it, they may have bought new uniform for their child at the start of September, but their child has then grown so much that by November their shoes no longer fit.

"We've had conversations with parents who have said they can't afford to buy until Christmas so we've got the shoes for them."

The school has lots of pre-loved uniform to dish out and staff and local organisations also donated coats to its Wrap up for Winter campaign. But it sources new items for kids too, such as blazers from the local supplier Whittakers, and staff will also go to the nearby Asda or Matalan to pick up coats or shoes, or whatever else is needed.

"We've just stocked up with 200 pairs of black tights for the girls," the head says. "Some of them only have one pair and they don't last long.

"In some places you get kids who are fussy over what they'll wear, but ours will happily wear Matalan or Asda or whatever. You'll find that loads of them have the same black coat for instance, as a lot of them get stuff from the same places. They're usually just grateful to be given a brand new pair of shoes."

Everything is done quietly, there's 'no stigma, no judgement' and 'no divide' - 'you can't tell who has and who has not', says Zarina.

"There's no judgement at all. And we find that if we fix what we can for our families, they give it back tenfold."

Hers is one of many schools to have benefited from the support of the Manchester United Foundation, which works with 77 partner schools in Manchester and beyond, including primaries, secondaries and SEND.

Back in October, United held a matchday winter coat appeal ahead of Brentford’s visit to Old Trafford, which saw more than 2,000 coats donated by fans, club staff and players from Erik ten Hag’s and Marc Skinner’s first-team squads for young people and families in need.

Along with a Foundation gift of more than 22,000 additional winter clothing items, including hats and gloves, these have since been redistributed to partner schools.

Headteachers and Foundation staff who work within those schools say the donations have been invaluable.

“When we’re outside delivering PE, you can see some of the children freezing," says Andrew Williams, a Foundation coach who works across partner primary schools in Greater Manchester, delivering the Premier League Primary Stars programme.

"To give them a jacket or a coat, that’s unreal for some of these children. They might even wear it inside the house, and coming to school, that means they’re ready and eager to learn.”

Adele Cox, head of another partner school, Pioneer House High School in Wythenshawe, agrees, saying: "Knowing there are fabulous people out there that want to make a difference to our children, it means the world to us.

“We have young people who come to school with just their uniform, so having the opportunity to give some things out to our lovely families and knowing it has come from the Foundation makes it even more special.”

E-ACT The Oldham Academy North has also benefited from the scheme, receiving more than 200 hats, socks, gloves and blankets to give to the most vulnerable students during the cold weather.

Head Jessica Giraud said: “It’s so important for children to be appropriately dressed in this cold weather both at home and at school. Nobody can concentrate on learning if they are freezing.

"The whole school is very grateful to the Manchester United Foundation for their generous donation of cold weather wear, which we have made sure to distribute to some of our vulnerable students and families in need during this cold snap.”

Who knows how many red apple boys there are that need this support, and it's terrifying to think what these youngsters' lives would be like without the support they are getting from school.

They are papering over the cracks of a broken society, but the underlying issues remain.