Council relaunches Food Voucher Scheme for vulnerable households - Update
The Council are relaunching the Food Voucher Scheme for vulnerable households and pensioners in the Borough, as part of the extended Household Support Fund, from this December.
The food vouchers are a voucher that can be used in supermarkets to help with the rising cost of living, freeing up money for other bills.
Letters will be sent direct in the post to eligible households with instructions on how to access and use the voucher.
The vouchers, which are higher than previous rounds, will be issued directly to the following eligible recipients from mid-December:
- £50 per household in receipt of Council Tax Support (approx. 5,000)
- £80 per household for those in receipt of Housing Benefit and who do not receive Council Tax Support (approx. 550)
Distribution and enquiries about the allocated vouchers have been contracted out to Wonde Ltd.
Email: [email protected], Help Centre: https://help.evouchers.com
The vouchers will be made available in the following two ways:
- Working age recipients will receive a letter with a QR code to claim the voucher online (an offline option can be made available in certain circumstances)
- Pensionable age recipients will receive a physical voucher. The nearest supermarket has been pre-selected, prior to issue, based on postcode (recipients in previous voucher rounds will have the same supermarket allocated as before).
UPDATE: The Household Support Fund food vouchers were posted to all those eligible, the week commencing 11 December. Unfortunately, we have been advised by Royal Mail that standard delivery times have been impacted due to the high volume of post being sent at this time of year. This may mean a delay in receiving your voucher. If you have not yet received your voucher please allow extra time. If you are eligible and have not received your voucher by 2nd January 2024 please contact us.
Any new qualifying recipients identified after the initial distribution of food vouchers will be sent to Wonde Ltd on a weekly basis to issue vouchers until funding is exhausted or by 1 April 2024, whichever comes sooner.
Any leftover or returned vouchers will be given to the Eastleigh pantry for their use.
The food voucher scheme has been made possible by the Household Support Fund. It was recently extended by the Government and has been administered locally by Hampshire County Council under their connect4communities framework. The scheme also has a discretionary fund allocated to schools, colleges, and early years settings to enable them to provide direct support for necessities for families that are most in need.