A BARROW girl has been chosen to share her views on a national youth panel to help eradicate child hunger.

Asha Eva-Dodsworth, 12, from Walney School, has been asked by the Fixers charity to take part in a national initiative to tackle food poverty among children.

Her role as a Food Ambassador for Walney and Barrow will be to be a part of a national collective of young people sharing their views around the issues causing and affecting food poverty, which will be brought together in a document that will be presented to government.

She will also be a part of a collective group that will meet with politicians to give a voice to the young people of the nation on how food poverty affects them and what they feel is the best way to prevent it.

Asha said: “I was surprised when they sent me a letter asking me to be a part of the project, but clearly they liked the answers I was giving when they came to school to talk about food poverty and I was really interested in what was being said.

“I remember talking about how certain food adverts should only be on when children go to sleep, for example fast food commercials.

“Also, lots of large families are easily led to poor quality food, such as frozen meals, simply because it is easier for them to manage the family.

“Much of this food is also cheaper, but it is in no way healthier.”

When asked about her own experience of food poverty she mentioned how she knows families who struggle and really have to budget their spending to make sure there is enough food through the week.

Asha has been a part of a school council since she was in year three, so is more than used to sharing her views around the issues that face her and her class mates and is really looking forward to raising awareness around this issue.

Natalia Wealleans-Turner, youth worker from the Brathay Trust, said: “This will give voice to the young people of Barrow and help show how they can have an influence on government.”

The Fixers charity are collaborating with the Food Foundation to be get involved in the The Children’s Future Food Inquiry, which is a an all party parliamentary group led by the MP Sharon Hodgson.

The Inquiry is gathering evidence, experience and case studies about children’s experiences of food and how it affects their lives in order to inform and shape its recommendations.

It will focus on children under 18 years old in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.