270,000 young mums missing out on weekly food vouchers worth £3.10 – how to apply
MORE than 270,000 mums are missing out on weekly food vouchers worth £3.10 to help with the cost of fruit, vegetables and milk.
Official figures show the number of eligible Brits claiming their vouchers under the “Healthy Start” scheme has dropped from 73 per cent in April 2015 to 48 per cent in June 2020.
The support is available to mums who are at least 10 weeks pregnant or have a child under four and get income support or other benefits.
You also qualify if you are under 18 and pregnant, even if you don’t get any benefits.
First reported by , the current take-up is at its lowest point in the last five years, and figures fell even before the coronavirus crisis hit.
In June this year, just 251,547 out of 523,627 eligible people received the vouchers, meaning 272,080 missed out, said charity Feeding Britain, which analysed the official figures.
You can either print off a blank form, or fill out an online application form and then print this off at the end.
You need to fill out Part A carefully in black ink using CAPITAL letters.
What can I spend the vouchers on?
The vouchers can be used to buy plain cow’s milk and can be whole, semi-skimmed or skimmed.
It must also be pasteurised, sterilised, long-life or ultra-heat treated (UHT).
They're also valid for packs of plain fresh or frozen fruit and vegetables, but you can't spend them on fruit or veggies with added ingredients such as fat, salt, sugar or flavourings – including oven chips and battered onion rings.
The vouchers are also valid on infant formula milk that is based on cow’s milk and says on the packaging that it can be used from birth.
A few years ago, Aldi stopped a mum from using the vouchers to buy baby milk formula after a mix-up.
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