working, you know, in a reasonably good job in terms of pay and yet still really struggle with the basics. and i think that is something that quite a lot of us can relate to. the breakfast club is going to expand too, with the help of business donations, giving more children a good start to the school day. for eight year old alishah, who spoke to us, free school meals until she leaves primary school. it s been an emotional few days for her and dad ali. expenses going up, right, so that s why it s very hard to manage the house expenses like these. you know, the bills, everything is very, very expensive. it s nice, schooljust to give them something to kids, notjust my kids but every kid.
with money this winter. for eight year old alishah and her dad, a further surprise two donors paying for a hot lunch every day until she leaves primary school. as the nativity story plays out in schools across the land, a reminder that kindness crosses the boundaries of faith and place. branwenjeffreys, bbc news, bradford. the man who killed 35 year old law graduate zara aleena lastjune has been jailed for life and must serve at least 38 years in prison. jordan mcsweeney did not know ms aleena when he murdered and sexually assaulted her in east london. her grandmother sobbed as she told the court she feels completely broken by her death. helena wilkinson was in court and sent this report. this isjordan mcsweeney in the hours before
families really struggling. it has just blown us away, really, the generosity of people. it is absolutely amazing and we really, genuinely, cannot thank you enough. one of the many who contacted the school is rick, who i spoke to today. it s very relatable, the situation. the very fact that there is a hard working parent that clearly loves his daughter, couldn t even afford £2.10 for a meal, in this day and age, that s just really resonated. b, e, d, bed! bed! the youngest already get free government funded meals. only one in five older pupils here qualify for free school meals, which means a family income of less than £7,400. thanks to our bbc audiences, the children at this school will get hot food every day, all the way through to next summer. but there are so many other schools where working families are struggling
water in the channel. over 30 people were rescued by a fishing boat. and morocco, the first african and arab nation to play in a world cup semifinal, take on france this evening in qatar. coming up in sportsday, on the bbc news channel: with just 20% of black children in england regular swimmers, we find out how one association is trying to help more people from black and asian communities take the plunge. a heartwarming response to a bbc report about school dinners shows that people remain caring and generous, even when money is tight. last month we reported on concerns that the rising cost of living is leaving some families struggling to pay for school dinners. eight year old alishah s school in bradford, which we featured, was inundated with letters and donations from viewers, and, incredibly, it s collected nearly £50,000.
our education editor, branwen jeffreys, has the story. a hot school lunch here costs just £2.10. at this primary two weeks ago, we heard some families were cutting back. don t forget to take some salad. the head was worried that working parents were struggling. like ali and his daughter alishah, who had school lunch just one day a week. their story prompted hundreds of donations. shocking to hear that not all schoolchildren have access to a hot meal every day and we hope our contribution will help towards alishah and her school friends. yesterday, my nieces asked me not to buy them christmas presents this year. in view of this, i would like to donate £42. i would like to offer a small piece of help over the festive time. my children are all grown up now. it s unbelievable, really that in this day and age, in a country that is full of riches, that children are still living in this situation. we are talking about working