National School Meals Week (NSMW) 9^th – 13^th November 2026

We need your help to make NSMW26 a big event in the school meals calendar. 2026 marks 120 years of providing one of the most important meals of the day to millions of children across the UK. School lunches have and will always play a vital role in nurturing young people and support learning and development in the classroom. School lunches are more than just the meal on the plate.

As ever NSMW plays an important platform to increase awareness of the industry and its need for additional funding. Getting involved means you play a part in securing the future of school meals.

For 2026 ‘One Big Celebration’ we want you to create your own week of celebrations and special events. You can do that by getting involved in:

• #onebigshare, our campaign to flood social media with fantastic stories and events during the week.
• One of 5 great big, themed events, free resources will be available along with campaign logos, email footers, social media adverts and every else you need to run a fantastic event.
• NSMW in 120 pictures, we will be sending out Selfie frames to 120 important people in the school meals industry. We are asking the regions to get involved by nominating front line workers to feature in our campaign. It could be you!
• VIP day, features every year, we encourage you to invite your local MP or Council dignitaries into school for a day so they can join in the campaign for more funding
• Supporting the launch of Junior School Chef of the Year (JSCOTY). We want to inspire young people to take up a career in catering or even just to learn important life skills with our countrywide competition. Children from around the regions will get involved

Win Win Win

One big dining room makeover!

You could be in with a change to win £1200 to refresh your schools dining room. Well we couldn’t give £120! What do you need to do?

• Create a week of special events
• Share your stories on social media
• Send pics and stories to admin@tsfp.co.uk 
• Tell your regional TSFP chair what you are doing
• Do what you can to increase school meals during the week

The winner will be announced early December when all the entries are in. The deadline is Friday 27^th November for all entries.

Free NSMW26 resources

As ever there will be free resources to download and personalise for your events. Visit the resources page on this site to access everything you need to make your event successful. 

What you can access for free

• Launch day resources
• Theme days
• Stickers and activity sheets
• Campaign logos
• Email footers
• Social media adverts
• Letter templates
• Press releases
• Selfie frames and certificates

One Big Share

Get on board with our social media campaign, Here are all the details you need to start your #onebigshare today! why wait until NSMW26

Facebook @lacatheschoolfoodpeople
X @LACA_UK
Instagram laca_uk
LinkedIn /laca-the-school-food-people
Hashtags #LACA_UK #greatschoolfood #mindfulmeals

#TSFP #onebigshare #NSMW26 #nationalschoolsmealsweek #120yearsofschoolmeals