School meals website http://www.myschoollunch.co.uk/ has picked up two accolades at the Caterersearch.com website awards 2008. 

The website, through which local authorities including Manchester City Council, inform pupils and parents about school meals, won the Innovation and Interactive category and the overall prize of Website of the Year, beating well known brands such as Gleneagles Hotel, McCains and Youngs Brewery who were winners in other categories. 

Manchester Fayre, the catering department of Manchester City Council operates www.myschoollunch.co.uk/manchester, providing a wide variety of information on school meals and the importance of healthy eating.  Menus are available so that parents can see what their children are eating each day, and educational games are provided to make the subject fun and interesting to young people. Regular competitions are held on the site giving young people the chance to win some exciting prizes while learning and thinking about their diet, and teachers can also download lesson plans and worksheets that link the games to Key Stages One and Two of the National Curriculum.

Arnold Fewell, Managing Director of AVF Marketing who created the website, said: "There are 26 local authorities taking part in this project and more are in the pipe line.  We could not have won these awards without their help and involvement and every one of them are winners of these two awards".

Councillor Bernard Priest, Executive Member for Finance and Human Resources with responsibility for school meals at Manchester City Council said: "The website is a fantastic resource for us. It's a way of directly communicating with everyone who uses our catering service and is very well used both in schools and homes across the city."

Amanda Afiya, Web Editor of Caterersearch.com, said "The judges said that http://www.myschoollunch.co.uk/ was the most interactive website and promoted healthy eating in an appealing and creative manner to its target audience.  It sends out good messages to children and gives out important and useful information to parents."

For information on school meals in Manchester visit www.myschoollunch.co.uk/manchester