Food vouchers to be given to children in need in Hampshire for February half term
The County Council has confirmed they will be helping to feed youngsters during the break
Last updated 18th Jan 2021
Vulnerable children in Hampshire and those eligible for free school meals will be provided with food vouchers during the February half term holiday.
Hampshire County Council has confirmed that it will hand out over 35,000 vouchers as part of the authority's recently launched connect4communities programme to help those facing hardship because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The programme uses funding from the £2.89 million Covid Winter Grant Scheme allocation, awarded to the council by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP).
The County Council's Executive Lead Member for Children's Services and Young People, Councillor Patricia Stallard, said:
"No child should go hungry. In November, through our connect4communities programme, we made arrangements to ensure sufficient funding was distributed to childminders, early years' providers, schools and colleges, for them to purchase and supply food vouchers to the families of eligible children for the two-week Christmas school holidays and February Half Term.
"Over 105,000 vouchers were given to families in need for the two-week holiday in December and over 35,000 will be provided, for the February break, to those same families and any others in need who were not previously identified."
Ahead of the half term break each eligible household will be given a voucher for each child.
In line with the DWP's funding criteria, food vouchers will be given to:
- All families whose children are eligible for free school meals
- Children being supported by a social worker
- Children receiving early help services from the County Council's Family Support Service
- 2-4 year olds accessing childcare and eligible for Early Years Pupil Premium, or
- 16-18 year olds who were previously eligible for free school meals
Further support was put in place for families over the winter season, with each school and college being provided with a Discretionary Grant Fund. Schools and colleges have the flexibility to use this grant funding to help support families who may not be immediately eligible for the voucher scheme but find themselves struggling financially -for example, where a parent has lost their job due to COVID-19.
The money can be used to help with food and other essential items, such as energy cards/tokens to pay fuel bills.
However, in accordance with the DWP Winter Grant Fund criteria, this discretionary allowance cannot be used by schools to supplement term time free school meals.
The council said in addition, connect4communities has awarded a grant of £100,000 to the Citizens Advice Service in Hampshire specifically to support families and people in need with energy costs.
Anyone who would like to find out more information about the connect4communities programme can visit the website: connect4communities.org
People can find their nearest branch of Citizens Advice Service on their website.