Five hundred children enjoyed a huge picnic in Westminster Abbey College Garden to celebrate a school food charity’s tenth birthday.

School Food Matters aims ‘to ensure that every child enjoys fresh sustainable food at school and understands where their food comes from.’

They work with schools, parents and the children themselves to support education through cooking, growing and visits to farms.

Fifty schools were invited to the picnic last Thursday, June 15, along with celebrity chef Tom Aikens and gardener Chris Collins for the foodie celebration.

Mr Aikens then judged the best picnic.

He said: "I am honoured to be an Ambassador for School Food Matters and have had a ball with the children at Westminster Abbey today. It is fantastic to see the creativity on show in all the picnics and I might have picked up some tips!

"School Food Matters has worked with thousands of children, helping them fall in love with food and today perfectly symbolises how vital that work is, not only today but for the next ten years."

Chris Collins said: “It's been a fantastic day, I don't think I have gardened with as many children in one day before. Their knowledge is amazing and their enthusiasm to roll their sleeves up is brilliant, which is heartening when we hear that gardening at home is beginning to decline.”

“School Food Matters is a brilliant charity that helps children connect with food in so many ways, from farming to growing and cooking.”

Charity founder and CEO Stephanie Wood started School Food Matters from her kitchen table in 2007, after becoming concerned about the food in her children’s school.

She said: “We wanted to celebrate our birthday the best way we know how: with children and food. It has been an inspiring day and I would like to thank all 500 of our young guests.

“It has been a whirlwind of a ten years and the work continues with a new government and new challenges ahead in the world of school food.

“Today illustrates just how much children want to learn about food – how to cook it and grow it – and that’s why School Food Matters will be around for at least another 10 years to ensure that the good folk at Whitehall make children’s health and food education a priority.”

Now, the charity works with hundreds of schools every year and has worked directly with 30,000 children.

With school meals again on the political agenda, organisers think the picnic was a great opportunity for schools to get together with influencers to celebrate all that has been achieved since the demise of the infamous turkey twizzler.