YOUR household may be one of thousands eligible for free supermarket vouchers this week worth at least £50 to help with the cost of living.
Cash strapped families can access the support from their local council through the Household Support Fund (HSF).
Residents in Southampton, Hampshire, on low income and struggling with the cost of living will be allowed to apply though the council’s website from Thursday 29 August.
The supermarket vouchers will be valued at £50 for the main applicant and then £10 for each additional household member.
This means that, for example, if you lived in a family household of four, you would receive £50 for yourself, as well as £10 each for your three other household members.
This would provide a total of £80 in support.
The vouchers are being provided as part of Southampton City Council’s HSF, alongside support for school holiday funding and housing cost relief.
The funding itself came from the Government, who made an extra £421 million available to help the most vulnerable across England.
The £2.2million package is an extension of the Household Support Fund (HSF) and has been allocated by the Department for Work and Pensions.
This funding however only covers the period 1 April 2024 to 30 September 2024 and the council has advised that you will only be able to receive support once.
This means that if you received support in June 2024, you cannot apply for the benefit this August.
The council said: “The HSF is there to help low income households, including families, pensioners, unpaid carers, care leavers and disabled people.
“It provides help for those who are struggling with the cost of living.”
It is expected that around 4,000 people in Southampton will be helped through the scheme.
In addition to the food support, the HSF has also been used to support school holiday funding, the local charity and voluntary sector, as well as housing costs in the city.
Southampton is not alone in providing supermarket shopping support, however, with councils across the UK providing vouchers to help with cost of living difficulties.
Cornwall Council, for example, provides £80 to the most vulnerable living in the coastal county.
But residents of Camden Council in London could receive up to £500 as part of the area’s Cost of Living Crisis Fund.
Find out how much your local area provides by checking out our map or by visiting your local council’s website.
The Government have also provided a handy breakdown of the Household Support Fund and a way to find out your local council provider of the scheme.
YOU can use a benefits calculator to help check that you are not missing out on money you are entitled to
Charity Turn2Us’ benefits calculator works out what you could get.
Entitledto’s free calculator determines whether you qualify for various benefits, tax credit and Universal Credit.
MoneySavingExpert.com and charity StepChange both have benefits tools powered by Entitledto’s data.
You can use Policy in Practice’s calculator to determine which benefits you could receive and how much cash you’ll have left over each month after paying for housing costs.
Your exact entitlement will only be clear when you make a claim, but calculators can indicate what you might be eligible for.
