PARENTS can get up to £442 worth of free food over the year using their Healthy Start vouchers – but must apply TODAY to take advantage of changes to the scheme.
The state-backed coupons help low-income families with small children with the cost of milk, vegetables, fruit, pulses and vitamins.
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The vouchers are currently worth £4.25 each after the value was raised last April.
But earlier this month, a major shake-up of the scheme saw prepaid cards replacing paper coupons.
You won’t be able to apply for paper vouchers after today, January 31, 2022 and you must switch to the digital scheme by March 31 to continue receiving the benefit.
You will also need to use up any physical coupons you have before they expire.
Families that qualify for the Healthy Start scheme get one or two vouchers per week, per child, depending how old each child is.
If you have a child that’s younger than 12-months-old, you get two vouchers each week.
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That means in the first year of your child’s life you could get £442.
Pregnant women get one voucher a week, and parents also get one voucher for each child between one and four.
That means they would get at least £221 in a year.
Footballer and campaigner against child food poverty Marcus Rashford MBE welcomed the move to increase the voucher value last April.
He said: “This was one of our Taskforce’s key asks and will make a huge difference to the most vulnerable people in our communities.”
He is urging families that need that extra support to sign up to the government’s scheme.
Who is eligible to receive Healthy Start vouchers?
To qualify for the voucher scheme you need to be more than 10 weeks pregnant or have at least one child under four.
You also need to receive one of the following benefits:
- Income Support
- Income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance
- Income-related Employment and Support Allowance
- Child Tax Credit with a family income of £16,190 or less per year
- Pension Credit
- Universal Credit with no earned income or total earned income of £408 or less per month for the family.
But if you are under 18 and pregnant you can get the vouchers, even if you don’t get any of those benefits.
How can I apply for Healthy Start vouchers?
To apply, you just need to download an application form from the Healthy Start website, print it off, fill it in and send it to:
Freepost RRTR-SYAE-JKCR, Healthy Start Issuing Unit, PO Box 1067, Warrington, WA55 1EG.
If you don’t have a printer, you can call the Healthy Start helpline on 0345 607 6823 and get a form sent to you.
If you’re already signed up for Healthy Start vouchers, you should have already been contacted with details on how to apply for a card.
In total, 143,458 people have already switched since the rollout began in September last year.
You can’t opt to continue receiving paper coupons – if you don’t switch to the online system by March 31 this year you will stop receiving the cash boost.
You’ll still be able to sign up after that date but your payments could be delayed or disrupted.
If you are a new applicant, you can sign up online now and you will get a prepaid card instead of paper vouchers.
Once you’ve applied online, you should receive your card within five to 10 working days.
But the NHS warned that it could take longer than this if there’s a high number of applications, which there could be as the deadline draws closer.
What will be different under the new Healthy Start scheme?
You will still get the same amount of money, but the way you get paid will change.
Families will be offered a prepaid card instead of paper vouchers, which will be topped up every four weeks.
The card will be valid at any shop that accepts Mastercard and sells eligible healthy start food items such as fruit, vegetables and vitamins.
That includes supermarkets, convenience stores, pharmacies, markets and newsagents.
Any money that you don’t spend will remain on the card and can be put toward healthy food in the future.
This is unlike the old voucher scheme where you had to spend at least £4.25 in one transaction.
You can check your balance at ATMs and your payment will automatically added – meaning you won’t have to wait for vouchers in the post.
Im a mum-of-eight and this is the huge pantry we need for our kids, we even have three fridges and six freezers
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