More councils SCRAP free meal vouchers – find out which still offer them this Christmas
Thousands of struggling families will be able to get help to pay for food this Christmas – but more than 20 councils have now scrapped the scheme.
The government’s Holiday Activity and Food (HAF) scheme is continuing this year, where councils are given funding to help provide meals and activities for children.
The scheme is open for school-aged children from reception to year 11 who receive benefits-related free school meals.
And it came after Manchester United and England footballer Marcus Rashford tirelessly campaigned for the vouchers and cash for families with children on free school meals gn during the pandemic.
But now however, several councils in England have pulled out of offering vouchers or cash this year for food.
And some councils have claimed they are providing funding in other ways.
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To find out if you are eligible you can click here, and you can go to your council’s website to find out what support is offered over the holidays.
The data come from the BBC’s Shared Data Unit and of the 125 councils in England that responded to their request about continuing the scheme:
- 94 are offering vouchers
- 10 are offering cash
- And another 21 have opted to provide support in other ways
York is one of the councils offering vouchers to those who receive free school meals.
Furthermore, Shropshire Council is continuing to offer £15 in supermarket vouchers for the Christmas period.
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Essex Council, Portsmouth Council and Middlesborough Council are also offering vouchers to those who qualify for free school meals.
Some of the councils not offering support in the form of vouchers or cash are Birmingham City Council, Wirral Council, St Helens Borough Council, Stockton Council and Hampshire County Council.
Many are still offering free food boxes instead of a voucher or £15 for the week.
Zoe McIntyre the school food project manager at the Food Foundation told the BBC it was “vitally important” that children who receive free school meals continue to do so over the school holidays.
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She said the struggling families are living in a “postcode lottery” over if their council offers vouchers or cash for food.
It comes as food inflation hit 12.4% in November – the highest rate in the food category since records began in 2005 and up from 11.6% in October.
If you are unable to get a voucher or cash for support there are a few other options.
The Healthy Start scheme gives prepaid food cards to families and pregnant women on a low income with at least one child under the age of four, to buy milk, fruit, vegetables, instant formula, tinned pulses and some multivitamins.
If eligible, you’ll be sent a Healthy Start card with money on it which can be used for most shops which accept Mastcard including supermarkets, convenience stores, markets and newsagents.
You get £4.25 each week on your Healthy Start card from the tenth week of pregnancy.
You then get £8.50 each week for children from birth to one-year old, and £4.25 each week for children between the age of and four years old.
The money will stay on the card for around 16 weeks.
To be eligible, you will typically need to be on certain benefits such as Universal Credit, Income Support or Income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance.
And the Household Support Fund is money given to councils by the Government to help low-income families across the country.
It can provide supermarket vouchers to those who are eligible with some vouchers worth up to £70 to spend on food and essentials.
The Mirror contacted the Food Foundation for comment.