0ver 100,000 food vouchers handed out in Hampshire to tackle Covid hardship at Christmas

More than 105,000 food vouchers have been given to families across Hampshire to make sure they don't go hungry during the Christmas holidays.

The project is part of Hampshire County Council's package of support during the coronavirus crisis.

The vouchers, worth £15 each, have been handed out to the families of over 35,000 children and young people across the county.

The council's 'connect4communities' programme aims to help those facing hardship because of the Covid-19 pandemic.

It has been funded from the £2.89 million Covid Winter Grant Scheme allocation, awarded to the authority by the Department for Work and Pensions.

"Councillor Patricia Stallard, said: "This scheme has allowed us to do what we can to help parents to be able to afford to buy enough food to feed their children over the Christmas and New Year holidays.

"With this food voucher scheme, we aim to help avoid children and young people in Hampshire having to go hungry during the school holidays.

"I am grateful to all those who have gone further than the extra mile to deliver this scheme in time for the end of term.

"I am deeply appreciative of the role that early years providers, schools and colleges have played in this – without their support to purchase and distribute vouchers to eligible families, we would not have managed this enormous task within the unavoidable tight timescale."

Each eligible household has received a voucher for each child, for both weeks of the holiday and will also be receiving a voucher ahead of the February half term week.

The vouchers can be used at a wide range of supermarkets.

Food vouchers have been 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 to 4-year-olds accessing childcare and eligible for early years pupil premium

• 16 to 18-year-olds who were previously eligible for free school meals