Meal vouchers for May half-term announced for children in West Northamptonshire

The most vulnerable children in West Northamptonshire will receive lunch vouchers during the coming May half-term.

The announcement comes after the Government funding for Free School Meals during the pandemic came to an end, but West Northamptonshire Council (WNC) has been able to tap into the Household Support Fund to pay for the vouchers.

The scheme will support 9,500 families by providing them with a £15 meal voucher per child to pay for lunch during the week-long school holiday.

Cllr Fiona Baker, WNC Cabinet member for children, families and education said: “We might feel that the pandemic is over, but the cost of living is putting immense pressure on household budgets.

"It cannot go on forever, but we will do as much as we can to shield children from the impact of those increasing costs."

Schools are currently being asked to provide lists of eligible families from which WNC will generate individual pupil vouchers that will be returned to schools for distribution.

Schools with the largest number of eligible pupils will receive the vouchers first and the rest in descending order in time for the start of the school holidays later this month.