The breakfast club which I helped organise offered cereal, porridge, white or brown toast, butter, jam, cheese, scrambled egg, yoghurt, fresh fruit, milk, squash and water.
There was a quiet area, where children could read or do homework, another area, where children could chat or play games and an outside area, where they could run around.
There aren't many opportunities during the school day for children to socialise and this hour before school gave them time to be together, without constantly being assessed. Some children brought their problems into school and they had an opportunity to chat with an adult, who wasn't their parent. Teachers reported that children were more ready to learn when school started. There was nearly always a waiting list for places.
Not all the mothers worked. Some had a number of children and their children came to breakfast club, because they preferred being with their friends rather than sitting around waiting for younger siblings to be fed and dressed.
The club has now been running for 19 years and is still going strong and two of the original staff are still there. The building is used for breakfast club, an after school club, a pre-school group and a holiday club, which meant that staff could be employed almost full-time,if they wanted. They all had appropriate health and safety, child protection and first aid training.