Suffolk County Council is pleased to confirm an extension of the Household Support Fund, meaning a further discretionary grant is available to support low-income families over the summer holidays. The grant will be issued as a £90 supermarket voucher for each eligible child from our new supplier Sodexo and is designed to help families with their essential living costs during the holiday.

What do I need to do?

The Free School Meals Team will email the primary contact we hold at each school with information which:

• provides schools with a spreadsheet to advise us of their FSM-eligible student’s information including email addresses for the vouchers to be sent to. Please complete this spreadsheet and send back to [email protected] by Friday 7 July 2023.
• includes a letter to parents/carers which schools can distribute to eligible families explaining the new voucher process and change in provider.

Should you have any questions or discrepancies in your eligibility list, please contact the Free School Meals Team at [email protected].

Please include your Year 11 leavers and any current Year 12 students in a school’s sixth form who will be up to 18 years of age on 30 September 2023 as they will be eligible to receive a voucher.

If any families are not currently eligible for free school meals but need support, please signpost to Suffolk County Council’s Public Health Team who operate the Local Welfare Assistance Scheme (LWAS) and may be able to provide financial support.

Please see the website page at Cost of living support | Suffolk County Council for further support and information. We thank you for your continued support in helping us to distribute the Household Support Fund to help low-income families.