Household Support Fund

Financial support for your family, until September 2024

Cost of living support - banner

The government’s Household Support Fund has been extended for a further 6 months, after originally being due to end in March 2024. The funding we've received, totalling £1,483,073.82, will help support families until the end of September 2024.

We will be providing funding for eligible households in several ways including supermarket vouchers for households, direct provision of food and grants to third parties (except for debt advice provision).

Over the Easter holidays, we'll be distributing supermarket vouchers to every child eligible for free school meals in Central Bedfordshire to help with food costs. We'll contact anyone who is eligible for support.

Families will receive £35 total to support with the cost of food for 2 weeks.

Eligible parents/carers – you will receive a text or email inviting you to choose a supermarket for the voucher. Please check with your school/educational setting to see if your child is already eligible for free school meals. Find out how to register.

If you have a question about your voucher, please email covid19.freeschoolmeals@centralbedfordshire.gov.uk. Please include the name of your child(ren) and the school they attend – we can't locate vouchers without this information.

Parents/carers will either receive a text message from ‘SchoolMeals’ or an email from vouchers@wonde.com containing their e-voucher instructions.

This only includes pupils on a school roll or in early years settings and are eligible up to the end of each school holiday.

A decision on how to allocate the remaining Household Support Fund will be made by the Executive at its meeting on 9 April. The proposed options are set out in the agenda papers (agenda item 26.1). Following a decision, information about other groups eligible for support will be provided on these web pages.