Almost a quarter of eligible families in Bath and North East Somerset are missing out on an estimated £75,852 of free fruit, vegetables, vitamins and milk a year due to unclaimed Healthy Start benefit.
Bath & North East Somerset Council estimates that there are 290 eligible families in the district who are not yet receiving Healthy Start and is encouraging them to come forward if they think they might be entitled to the support.
Healthy Start is an NHS scheme to help anyone more than 10 weeks pregnant or with a child under four, who meets the eligibility criteria, buy healthy food and milk.
The Healthy Start benefit is added onto a digital card to spend at shops that accept Mastercard.
Those eligible can receive £4.25 each week of pregnancy from the 10th week, £8.50 a week for children from birth to age one, and £4.25 a week for children aged between one and four years, plus free multivitamins. There is no limit to the number of children that a family can apply for.
Nationally, the number of households where children are experiencing food insecurity has nearly doubled in the past year with an estimated 3.7 million children at risk of going hungry.
Parents on Universal Credit who are at least 10 weeks pregnant or have at least one child under four years old can apply if their monthly take home pay is £408 or less from employment. Families receiving Child Tax Credit earning £16,190 or less a year can also apply if they don’t also receive Working Tax Credit.
The Healthy Start Card can also be used to collect free multivitamins for pregnant and breastfeeding mums, and vitamin drops for children under four not on first infant formula.
Healthy Start can be contacted on 0300 330 7010 by anyone without access to the Internet.