Local families who are eligible for benefit-related free school meals are set to receive vouchers worth £30 per child to cover the Christmas holidays.
Parents and carers have begun receiving emails from Bath & North East Somerset Council offering supermarket vouchers worth £15 per child per week.
Those who received a voucher during the October school holidays will receive the email automatically and do not need to reapply.
Once families reply to the email to confirm they want the supermarket vouchers, a second email will be sent containing links to access the vouchers.
The first email must be replied to within 48 hours of receipt and the links must be converted into vouchers within two months of the first email having been received.
Anyone who hasn’t received an email should contact [email protected] or call 01225 477277 (option 1).
People are being asked to check their trash or spam folders before contacting the council.
Families who are eligible for benefit-related free school meals but have not claimed a voucher previously can make a claim through the council’s free school meals vouchers web portal.
Councillor Dine Romero, cabinet member for Children and Young People, and Communities, said: “It has been a tough few years for many people following the pandemic and now with food and energy prices rising dramatically.
“Finances are especially difficult in the winter months, so I’m pleased that we’ve been able to use the Government’s Household Support Fund to help families make sure their children don’t go hungry this Christmas.
“We hope it will help people not to have to make a choice between heating or eating.”
Households in emergency need can access other support with food across the area, including via the council’s Welfare Support Team and the Community Wellbeing Hub.