Help with cost of food

Welcome to our food support section, where we're committed to helping you access affordable and nutritious food. If you're finding it hard to cover your food costs, we've got a variety of options that can help. From local food banks providing essential supplies, to social supermarkets offering discounted groceries, there's support available. We also have information on free school meals to ensure children get a healthy lunch on school days, and details about the Healthy Start program for qualifying families to buy basic foods.

Healthy Start 

 If you’re more than 10 weeks pregnant or have a child under 4, you may be entitled to get help to buy healthy food and milk.
If you’re eligible, you’ll be sent a Healthy Start card with money on it that you can use in some UK shops. We’ll add your benefit onto this card every 4 weeks.


You can use your card to buy
  • Plain liquid cow’s milk

  • Fresh, frozen, and tinned fruit and vegetables

  • Fresh, dried, and tinned pulses

  • Infant formula milk based on cow’s milk

You can also use your card to collect
  • Healthy Start vitamins – these support you during pregnancy and breastfeeding
  • Vitamin drops for babies and young children – these are suitable from birth to 4 years old

Apply

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