Parents encouraged to claim free Healthy Start vouchers

Parents of children under the age of four years old are being encouraged to check if they are eligible for free Healthy Start vouchers to help buy food and milk.

The Healthy Start vouchers are offered by the NHS to parents receiving certain benefits* but are estimated to go unclaimed by more than a third (38%) of eligible parents in South Cambridgeshire.

This results in almost £88,000 of unclaimed funds each year in the district, largely due to a lack of awareness of the scheme.

In our latest campaign to support residents with the cost of living, we have used our new and innovative IT package, called the Low-Income Family Tracker (LIFT), to identify 377 households who are likely to be eligible for Healthy Start vouchers.

All these households have been contacted by letter and text where possible to encourage them to apply for Healthy Start vouchers if they have not done so already.

Cllr Henry Batchelor, Lead Cabinet Member for Communities in South Cambridgeshire, said: “This campaign is another example of the District Council's innovative approach to supporting residents amid the rising cost of living. Healthy Start vouchers remain significantly under-claimed, despite the positive impact a healthy diet can have on a child's development. We encourage all parents of children under four to check their eligibility and ask everyone to help spread the word.”

Karlene Allen, Deputy Chief Nurse, NHS Cambridgeshire & Peterborough, said: “Good nutrition is essential during pregnancy and early childhood to help ensure children reach their full potential for growth and development. The Healthy Start scheme is there to help families increase the amount of fruit and vegetables they eat, and we would encourage anyone who is eligible to apply for vouchers.”

Parents are eligible for Healthy Start vouchers if they have a child under the age of four and are on certain benefits. If eligible, parents will receive a Healthy Start card that can be used in most UK supermarkets, similar to a debit card. The card will be pre-loaded with £8.50 a week for children aged under one, and £4.25 a week for children aged between one and four years old.

The card can be used to buy:

• fresh, frozen, and tinned fruit and vegetables
• fresh, dried, and tinned pulses
• plain liquid cow’s milk
• infant formula milk based on cow’s milk

The card can also be used to collect:

• Healthy Start vitamins – these support a parent during pregnancy and breastfeeding
• Vitamin drops for babies and young children – these are suitable from birth to 4 years old

*A household must be claiming one of the following benefits to quality:

• Universal Credit with earned income of less than £408 per month from employment
• Child Tax Credit
• Income Support
• Income-related Employment Support Allowance
• Income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance (not contributory benefits) and have a household income below a specified amount

The easiest way to apply for Healthy Start vouchers is online. If residents are unable to apply online, they can call the Healthy Start voucher helpline on 0300 330 7010 and a member of staff will help complete an application.

The use of the Low-Income Family Tracker for this campaign follows on from a highly successful campaign to identify residents that were likely to be eligible for Pension Credit and not claiming, with many more projects using this software planned for the future.