Impero Calls on Businesses to Address the Shocking Growth in Child Food Poverty in the UK

Jul. 14, 2025

Independent creative agency Impero is launching a powerful new campaign urging businesses to donate one hour of their employees’ salaries to UK food banks, in an attempt to counter child food poverty in the UK.

The Lunch Hour Sacrifice presents a striking and uncomfortable visual narrative, depicting the heartbreaking realities of what children in the UK will resort to eating when faced with extreme hunger, including pencil rubbers, mouldy bread, and pet food, as well as being pushed to steal food out of desperation.

The campaign, created in partnership with food photographer Chelsea Bloxsome and food stylist Liam Baker, features a series of posters, which will also appear on social media, with closely-cropped images depicting the kind of things children are being forced to eat next to words like "Irresistible", “Tempting”, “Enticing”, and “Appealing”.

A campaign website https://www.lunchhoursacrifice.org directs users to suitable charities and food banks, and offers pre-written emails for people to share with their bosses, line managers, and financial directors, asking their company to take part. There are even pre-written social posts for businesses to use when they do, announcing their involvement.

From Monday 14th July there will be OOH across London, with media space supported by creative street advertising specialists BUILDHOLLYWOOD.

The Lunch Hour Sacrifice campaign aims to spark a national movement, urging businesses large and small to donate the financial equivalent of their employees’ lunch hour to a food bank. Aiming to galvanise companies across the UK, the vision is clear: if just 0.1% of UK businesses commit to donating the equivalent of their employee’s lunch break, millions of pounds could potentially be raised.

Elliott Starr, Creative Director at Impero, the personal motivation behind the initiative explained:

"My brother-in-law is a primary school teacher, and I was shocked when he shared with me some of the bleak realities of the classroom. I couldn’t believe this was happening in the UK. We live in a country of privilege. I work in an industry where, for many, that privilege is greater, still. But check the news, check the facts - it’s harrowing. This campaign is about shaking people out of complacency. The cost of an employee’s lunch hour isn’t much for a business to donate, but for starving children, it could mean the world."

 

In the UK, the need for emergency food donations has surged by 94% in the past five years, with 1 in 3 emergency food parcels intended for a starving child. Some children are living in "Dickensian" levels of poverty, according to England's children's commissioner. 

As the UK School Summer Holidays approach, the pressure on families already struggling with food poverty will intensify. With around three million children at risk of hunger during the summer break, the loss of access to free school meals (FSM) costs low-income families an additional £30-40 per week. Charities distribute more food parcels during the summer than at any other time of year.

Alastair Mills, ECD at Impero, emphasised the importance of collective action said:

"We live in one of the wealthiest countries in the world, and yet millions of children go to bed hungry every night. But for most of us, it’s out of sight, out of mind. This campaign isn’t about shaming, it’s about revealing the shocking truth and giving a simple, achievable way to help. A lunch hour is something we take for granted, a time when you’re paid to eat — it’s a double privilege, and one that clearly illustrates the difference between the haves and have nots. It’s why we made it central to our campaign to engage businesses to take part."