Thousands of children in Stoke-on-Trent to benefit from food vouchers during October half term

Thousands of children in Stoke-on-Trent to benefit from food vouchers during October half term.

Thousands of families across Stoke-on-Trent who are entitled to free school meals, are set to be given supermarket vouchers accumulating to £240,000 for food during October half term. It’s part of a new multi-million-pound package of funding and support worth £2.6million that will be distributed to families and individuals over the Winter.

The city council are working in partnership with Wonde once again to issue supermarket vouchers to support families on free school meals and families where children have an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) in place over the school half term. Each family will get a £15 voucher per child.

This follows on from the school summer holidays where food vouchers where provided to over 15,000 children in the city.

Cllr Brown, leader of Stoke-on-Trent City Council said: “We’re really pleased to be able to provide food vouchers again to support families as households continue to recover from the impact of the pandemic.

“Families do not need to apply for a voucher if their child is at a school in the city – schools will issue the vouchers directly for children who are eligible to receive them. We would ask families to contact their school if they haven’t received a voucher by the start of half-term.

“We would also ask city families with a child in receipt of an EHCP who attends a school outside the city or are educated at home to check our website to see if they are eligible for a voucher, and if so they can also apply online via www.stoke.gov.uk/foodvouchers or calling 01782 234234.”

The scheme is funded by the Department of Work and Pensions in order to help families access food and essential supplies. The vouchers can be redeemed at supermarket such as; Aldi, Asda, Iceland, McColls, Morrisons, Sainsburys, Tesco and Waitrose.

These vouchers form part of the council’s extensive £2.6m Household Support Grant, part of the new £500m national support fund to help vulnerable households with essentials over the winter months as the country continues its recovery from the pandemic announced by Rt Hon Rishi Sunak MP in September.
Cllr Brown, leader of Stoke-on-Trent City Council continues: “Since November 2020 we have issued 80,000 food vouchers providing more than £2.495m to 16,100 families with children and other vulnerable households across the city, distributed more than £300,000 in small grants to 143 voluntary and community groups in Stoke-on-Trent and provided £60,000 in fuel vouchers for families in fuel poverty helping more than 1,000 families, to mention just a few.

“To support our communities and continue the collaborative working with our partners across the voluntary and community sector we have designed a wide-ranging winter scheme. We know households across Stoke-on-Trent are struggling with the continued recovery from the pandemic which has been further exacerbated by the economic landscape leading to increased costs of living including food, fuel and other essential items.

“We are committed to supporting our residents as we recover from the pandemic and more information about these winter schemes will be shared over the coming weeks and months.”