Free school meal holiday vouchers sent to low-income families to help buy food over the summer holidays

Over 22,000 supermarket vouchers, worth over £1.9 million, have been sent to low-income families in Devon to help them buy food over the upcoming summer holidays.

Each child currently eligible for free school meals during term time has received a £90 voucher to spend on replacing the meals they would have had at school during the day.

It’s the equivalent of £15 per week of the six week school holiday, and is being distributed in one lump sum now to allow families some flexibility on how they spend the vouchers and try to help with the additional pressure the summer period puts on household budgets. They can be redeemed in major supermarkets across Devon and arrangements are in place for families who cannot get to a supermarket.

Money for the free school meal holiday vouchers comes from the Government’s Household Support Funds – national funding to help families struggling with high costs of food, energy and other essential household items.

Since Household Support Funds were introduced in 2021, Devon County Council has allocated, £17,037,397.30 to provide Free School Meal holiday vouchers to help prevent pupils going hungry over the school holidays.

The council, this year, received a reduced level of Household Support Funding – a reduction from £10.1 million last year to £8.9 million this year – but councillors last week agreed to continue funding free school meal holiday vouchers at the same level as previous years, despite the reduced pot of money.