Professor Great Defeyter, who is calling for systemic change AN inquiry into the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on children in a North-East town has heard systemic change is needed to make the area a fairer place to live for young people. While Darlington Borough Council’s children scrutiny committee became among the first bodies in the country to examine the impact of the virus on health, mental health and wellbeing, the hearing was told many people and organisations in the borough were doing their utmost to provide for the needs of young people. Among the panel, Professor Greta Defeyter, director of the Healthy Living Lab at Northumbria University, spoke about how the pandemic had highlighted the case for universal free school meals for all children, regardless of age.