Last updated 8 February 2022
Stockport Council continues support of families in the borough with February half term and Easter holiday support vouchers
Stockport Council is once again distributing holiday support vouchers to families with children in receipt of income-based free school meals.
The vouchers are to help towards the cost of food, fuel and other essentials.
Post Office Payout vouchers or Aldi gift cards will be sent to families from 9th February and are for the value of £20 per week per child. This time, the voucher payments for the February half term and Easter holidays will be combined, meaning that the vouchers or gift cards received in February will be worth a total of £60 per child (to cover one week of half term and two weeks of Easter holidays).
Families are advised that they will not receive a second voucher before the Easter break, so should use the vouchers to cover the entirety of the period.
The council is adopting a digital-first approach. This means that where the council holds an email address for a family, vouchers will be sent by email using Post Office Payout from 9th February. Post Office Payout vouchers can be redeemed at any local Post Office branch.
Where the council does not hold an email address, Aldi gift cards will be posted out to families from the same date. For each child, families will receive two gift cards, each with £30 loaded onto it.
Funded by the Department for Education’s Household Support Grant, the vouchers are a part of a wraparound package of support designed to help low income families struggling with the rising cost of living. This includes emergency support funds and the return of the Holiday Activity and Food programme at Easter to help bridge the holiday experience gap for children in Stockport.
Councillor Colin Foster, Cabinet Member for Children, Family Services and Education, commented: “We know that the rising cost of energy and food prices is really hitting the most deprived areas of Stockport hard. We’re pleased to be able to implement the holiday support voucher scheme once again, to support low income families over the February half term and Easter holiday. If you had an active income-based free school meals claim on 24th January 2022, you are eligible for a Post Office Payout voucher or Aldi gift card. Post Office Payout vouchers sent out on 9th February will expire on 2nd March, so make sure you redeem yours to avoid missing out.”
To find out more about the holiday support vouchers scheme, visit the Stockport Council website.