A Northumbria University academic who has played a key role in bringing breakfast clubs and holiday activities to millions of children across the country has been elected to the Fellowship of the Academy of Social Sciences.<\/p>\n
Professor Greta Defeyter<\/a> OBE, Dean of Social Mobility Policy Engagement and Professor of Developmental Psychology at Northumbria, has been leading research into the importance of holiday programmes, school meals and breakfast clubs for over two decades. <\/p>\n As Director of the University\u2019s Health Living Lab<\/a>, Professor Defeyter\u2019s work has contributed to the Government announcing \u00a3600 million funding<\/a> to continue the Holiday Activities and Food (HAF) programme<\/a> over the next three years, with a recent landmark survey of 20,000 parents and carers<\/a> revealing the benefits to young people and the pressure the initiative helps take off family finances. <\/p>\n She is currently working with the Department for Education on the roll out of the \u00a3315 million National School Breakfast Club Scheme across all state funded primary schools in England and was awarded an OBE in recognition of services to education<\/a> in 2024.<\/p>\n As one of 74 new Academy of Social Sciences Fellows elected from 39 organisations across the UK, Professor Defeyter has been recognised for her significant contributions to social science, which\u202fhighlight the\u202frelevance of the social sciences in understanding and\u202faddressing the many varied societal challenges facing the UK and the world today.<\/p>\n As well as excellence in research and professional applications of social science, the new Fellows are elected from a variety of backgrounds, disciplines and professions, due to their work beyond academia, including\u202fin\u202findustry,\u202fpolicy making\u202fand higher education.\u202f <\/p>\n Speaking of being elected to the Academy of Social Sciences Fellowship<\/a>, Professor Defeyter said: \u201cI am honoured to be elected a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences. Over the last 25 years, I\u2019ve had the privilege of working with many social scientists and I appreciate the impact they have had on my thinking and the direction of my research. I hope to work with the Academy of Social Sciences to further promote the importance of social science research, especially to policy makers.\u201d<\/p>\n Professor Defeyter established the Healthy Living Lab in 2006 to investigate the impacts of school breakfast clubs on children\u2019s health, social and educational wellbeing. Working with Kellogg\u2019s, the Greggs Foundation and Blackpool Council between 2008 and 2019, her research demonstrated that breakfast clubs can improve school attendance and punctuality, motivation, social relationships, educational attainment and quality of life for many children. This evidence has supported the nationwide expansion of breakfast clubs in recent years. <\/p>\n Recognising that school holidays brought difficulties for many families, Professor Defeyter expanded her research. Her evaluations of holiday clubs and city-wide holiday programmes evidenced the need for the UK government to alleviate holiday hunger and ensure that children and young people were offered nutritious food and engaging activities outside of term time as well as during the academic year.<\/p>\n As a result, in 2021 the government announced that up to \u00a3220 million was being made available to local authorities across England to fund the HAF, and later, the HAF Plus programme, which has been co-designed to make it more engaging for older children. The HAF Plus framework has also been adopted by supporting organisations, such as Kitchen Social, funded by the Mayor\u2019s Fund for London, and has been implemented across all London boroughs.<\/p>\n Professor Defeyter has already received several accolades for her work. In 2006 she was named as a Children\u2019s Food Hero by Sustain, following notable award winners, Jamie Oliver and Ed Balls. In 2015, she was made a Fellow of the British Psychological Society<\/a> in recognition of her research with children living in areas of social and economic deprivation, and in 2020 she was named as one of the country\u2019s top 100 change makers<\/a> by the Big Issue for her research and policy impact on childhood food poverty in the UK. Most recently, she was appointed President of the Royal Society of Medicine’s (RSM) Food & Health Forum<\/a>. <\/p>\n She has a number of executive roles and fellowships with organisations. These include a long-standing association with the UK charity Feeding Britain, where she is currently a Trustee supporting a recently announced partnership with acclaimed chef and television presenter, Gordon Ramsay<\/a>, aimed at tackling hunger across the UK. <\/p>\n