The Isle of Wight Council has confirmed that vulnerable children and those eligible for free school meals will once again receive food vouchers during the October half-term.
The £157,470 funding for the vouchers has been provided from the £1.1million awarded to the authority through COVID Household Support Fund, issued by Department for Work and Pensions. It is aimed at supporting vulnerable households with food, utility bills, and other household expenses.
Councillor Debbie Andre, Cabinet lead for Children’s Services, Education and Lifelong Skills, said:
“It is vitally important to us that no child should go hungry over the school holiday. That is why I am pleased to announce that funding will once again be provided to over 5,000 children across the Island.
“I’d like to thank our partners in the childcare, early years, schools and college settings that have played a role in ensuring food vouchers reach eligible families as quickly as possible, in time for half-term.”
Ahead of the October half-term holiday, funding has been rapidly distributed to schools, colleges and early years providers to supply each eligible household a £15 voucher for each child.
Food vouchers will be given to:
• all families whose children are eligible for benefits related free school meals;
• children being supported by a social worker;
• children receiving early help services from the council’s Family Support Service;
• 2 to 4-year-olds accessing childcare and eligible for Early Years Pupil Premium;
• 16 to 18-year-olds who were previously eligible for free school meals.
The council is in talks with partners to consider the most effective approach to using the remainder of the funding.
But don’t you know? Covids over, at least that’s what they said when they lowered Universal Credit.
and what do they do with the child benefit that is provided so that they can buy their kids food.
these people get their rent paid, their council tax paid, they get free money for not working, they get free prescriptions, free dental, free eye tests as well as child benefit and so much more.
and what do we see, regularly, the very same people sporting the latest designer clothes, with the latest mobile phones glued to their faces in the pubs/bars, as well as more booze/baccy/sky tv/xbox and then claim they cant feed the kids.
how about pay for your own kids food, instead of leeching off the rest of us, who do pay.
Don’t forget those very expensive tattoos.
And also false nails and lashes , o don’t forget all the Costa coffees
Agree with all the comments here. But who is ultimately to blame are the do good brigade behind the scenes who continually champion these kind of people and call them “vulnerable” when we all know most of them are anything but! This country has become a total disgrace. I wish to God I could move to a better and more civlised country, somewhere like Japan maybe, but other countries, unlike this one, do not allow all and sundry to move in and settle there.
What should be being done for these people is educating them on how to budget properly, how to cook with proper ingredients- you can cook very cheaply and more healthily using fresh ingredients, and not continuously buying fast food and ready meals.
Even better, take away the money given to these people, pay rent direct to Landlords, and give them vouchers to the equivalent amount which can only be spent on food and not alcohol or cigarettes!
They don’t WANT to be educated. They KNOW what they are all about, and only come up with sob stories for the gulible media and charites. They take the mick out of them to other mates, I know, I work with some who do.
They don’t want it to change, as they have all the time off in the world, and are doing very well out of it all.
It is the thick gullible who give to them who ‘need’ educating, but they don’t care as it is not their cash, and they will find ONE true case and assume ALL are like that. They are NOT.
Great the parents have more money to blow on fags, tattoos and Netflix.
ALL familes getting free food should, by law, have to have their income published.
We all know many purporting to be ‘single parents’ whilst having a permanent partner living with them, and EVEN if single, the benefit payments are more to cover any such genuine people. Council tax is free and rent is too or very much only a token gesture payment.
These people always whinge on how little they ‘get’ but FAIL to tell all that their rent, c. tax, dentistry, and prescriptions are free, as are school meals, uniforms, and school days out.
They are often milking the system, and if ONE can survive on benefits WHY cant all
Makes me sick apart from the few genuine ones, benefit system needs a good shake up, there are jobs out there but many dont want them, should reduce payments for esentials only, if they have kids then its upto them to provide not sit back and expect others to keep paying out, just my opinion
Why give them just as they have s social worker ? That means that those that can afford private schools,earn £50,000 a year etc also get them. Lot’s of children and families have Social Workers and it’s not just the poor and vunerable it’s across all classes.
People should not be paid to have kids. The benefits system in this country just encourages the scroungers. People who have kids should pay higher taxes to cover all the costs of them, instead of the rest of us subsidising the brats.