In March, the Government announced an extension of the Household Support Fund. It first started in November 2021. The latest award for Peterborough is £1.82 million, to support those in need with food and utility bills. This funding comes with guidance telling us to focus on:
Families with children
Pensioners
Other vulnerable households
We want to do the best we can to help as many people with this funding who are struggling in our city. We also want to ensure that we target our support at those most in need. Therefore, we have used the funding to set up three schemes. School Holiday Voucher Scheme
We have used this part of the funding to directly award those eligible for free school meals vouchers to cover the holiday periods. For the summer term 2022, we purchased 27,652 vouchers covering 13,887 eligible children who received £45 across two vouchers.
The Government announced it is extending the Household Support Fund until the end of March 2023. As a result, each child will receive:
A £10 supermarket voucher for the October half-term break
A £30 supermarket voucher for the Christmas holiday
A £10 supermarket voucher for February half-term next year
You can apply online for free school meals (opens online form).