Families are being urged to check whether they may be eligible for free supermarket vouchers for the May half-term holiday.

Vouchers to the value to £15 for each eligible child or young person will be sent automatically to eligible families using school data and information held by Cambridgeshire County Council.

Those eligible for the vouchers will be pupils who meet the following criteria:

* Early Years Pupil Premium

* Children eligible for income related funded two-year-old education

* Eligible for income-related Free School Meals

* Students eligible for 16+ bursary.

Information about free school meals and how to apply can be found via www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/council/communities-localism/support-with-the-cost-of-living 

All that is required are basic details and a national insurance number.

The half-term holiday voucher will be issued by the end of the day on Saturday May 27. 

The voucher will be sent by email and/or text to the nominated parent or carer. The voucher does not need to be used in a single shopping trip.

Any child eligible for income-related free school meals, or any of the other criteria listed above, will automatically receive a voucher for the May half-term holiday.

Any children who become eligible up until June 2 will also receive a voucher. This will be sent when the council are notified of newly eligible children.

The extension of the overarching 'household support grant' was announced in the chancellor’s 2022 autumn statement – funding for the May half term supermarket vouchers will come from this.

Since then a total of 81,100 vouchers have been claimed in Cambridgeshire, worth a total of £1.833m.

Over the Easter holidays alone, 20,864 vouchers worth £625,920 were claimed.

Cllr Bryony Goodliffe, chair of Cambridgeshire County Council’s children and young people committee, said: “It is very important that we continue to help struggling families.

“The cost of living continues to rise, and many families are finding the competing priorities of family life both challenging and worrying."