Breaking Bread: Inside Hillside High's Community Impact

Helen Thornton welcomes us into Hillside High School in Bootle, where the stark reality of educational inequality meets unwavering community spirit. As both a teacher and Bread and Butter Thing volunteer, Helen offers a compassionate, ground-level perspective on the challenges facing students from diverse backgrounds in this vibrant school near Liverpool.

"I've got students who the only hot meal they get is here at school," Helen reveals, before describing how the school has become a lifeline for many families. With over 30 languages spoken and students from Nigeria, the Philippines, Ukraine, and the Middle East, Hillside High embodies the multicultural richness of this port city community. Yet amid this diversity lies a troubling divide between those who have and those who struggle.