THOUSANDS of households are now eligible to apply for up to £270 worth of supermarket food vouchers to assist families.
The help comes via the Household Support Fund (HSF) which is worth £421 million.
The fund has been shared between councils in England who have to distribute their portion before the end of September.
What you can get depends on where you live, as each local authority has been given its own unique amount.
Now, the BCP Council Family Information Service is able to provide a £90 supermarket food voucher for pre-school age children living in Bournemouth, Christchurch or Poole.
It means a family with three kids can get £270 to help with the rising cost of living, though of course the exact amount you can get will depend on how many kids you have.
Plus to be eligible for a voucher, children must be aged 0 to 5 and have not started school.
They must also meet at least one of the following criteria:
Attending and receiving 2-year-old funding under the receiving certain benefits criteria at an early years setting in Bournemouth, Christchurch or Poole in the summer term.
Getting three and four year old funding at an early years setting in Bournemouth, Christchurch or Poole, in the summer term and are currently in receipt of Early Years Pupil Premium funding.
Or if they have an open case with a social worker and/or Early help family support worker and of pre-school age.
All applications will be checked against details held by the council to confirm eligibility.
If your child is eligible, you will receive one £90 supermarket food voucher.
Vouchers will be sent digitally and can be used at Asda, Tesco, Aldi, Iceland, Sainsbury’s, Morrisons, M&S, McColl’s or Waitrose.
Vouchers must be spent on food to feed your children and must be used by the claiming household only.
The deadline for food voucher applications is 11pm on Sunday 1 September 2024.
THE Household Support Fund was first launched in October 2021 to help Brits pay their way through winter amid the cost of living crisis.
Councils up and down the country got a slice of the £500million funding available to dish out to Brits in need.
It was then extended for a second time in the 2022 Spring Budget and for a third time in October 2022 to help those on the lowest incomes with the rising cost of living.
The DWP then confirmed a fourth extension of the scheme through to March 31, 2024.
Chancellor Jeremey Hunt extended the HSF for the fifth time while delivering his Spring Budget on March 6, 2024.
You might be able to. The £421 million HSF pot has been shared between councils in England, but not equally.
Each local authority gets to decide its own eligibility criteria.
That means what you can get, and whether you qualify, depend on where you live.
Some councils started distributing help in April and have already depleted their share, so you might have missed out for now.
The Household Support Fund has been extended multiple times since its inception in October 2021, so it may be extended again though.
If you are not a Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council resident, contact your local council for details of their scheme.
There are currently a number of councils offering help via the HSF.
Leicestershire Council is handing out payments worth £300 to thousands of households.
Households in Stockport can claim up to £315 worth of free supermarket vouchers to help with the cost of living.
Meanwhile, Wokingham Council is handing out grants worth up to £140.
If you want to check if you are eligible for help, contact your local council.
You can find what council area you fall under by using the Government’s council locator tool.
