Children across Southport who are eligible for free school meals will benefit from a National Voucher Scheme allowing them to continue to access meals whilst they stay at home.
Schools can now provide every eligible child with a weekly shopping voucher worth £15 to spend at supermarkets while schools are closed due to coronavirus.
Schools can continue to provide meals for collection or delivery themselves, but where this is not possible, the scheme will allow schools to provide vouchers to families electronically, or as a gift card for those without internet access.
The vouchers can be spent on food at a range of shops including Sainsbury’s, Tesco, Asda, Morrisons, Waitrose, and M&S, with the Department for Education working to get more shops to join the scheme as soon as possible.
Commenting, Damien said:
“ This is welcome news for many families across Southport and will help to ensure children get healthy nutritious meals whilst out of school.”
Education Secretary Gavin Williamson said:
“ I recognise that the unprecedented action this Government is taking to protect the country from coronavirus, including closing schools, is dramatically affecting the lives of many families.
“ I want to thank schools for the support they are continuing to provide to families during such uncertain times.
“ We’ll be working with the government to make sure this system works as effectively as everyone hopes it will.”
Paul Whiteman, General Secretary of the National Association of Headteachers (NAHT), said:
“ This is welcome news for schools and families. This new system fills in one of the remaining gaps in the complex jigsaw puzzle of provision that has arisen from the Covid-19 crisis.“ There may be some kinks to work out of the scheme, especially as it has been developed at pace, but at least there is some certainty available now.
“ We’ll be working with the government to make sure this system works as effectively as everyone hopes it will.”
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