Co-op has announced that it will top up the value of the government’s Healthy Start vouchers by an additional £1.
The move its part of the retailer’s work as a founding member of Marcus Rashford MBE’s Child Poverty Task Force, which aims to ensure that all children have access to healthy and nutritious food.
Customers wishing to redeem a voucher in any Co-op store in England, Wales or Northern Ireland will be able to exchange it for items up to the value of £4.10, instead of £3.10.
Healthy Start vouchers can be used to buy vital food and essentials, Co-op says, such as milk, fresh, frozen and tinned fruit and vegetables, fresh, dried and tinned pulses and first-stage infant formula.
The announcement of Co-op’s Healthy Start boost follows news last month that the government has agreed to raise the base value of the vouchers to £4.25 from April 2021. The increase comes as a result of ardent campaigning by the Child Food Poverty Task Force, Co-op says, which has also been successful in getting the government to make free school meals available to every child whose family is on universal credit and to provide meals throughout school holidays.
Jo Whitfield, CEO, Co-op Food, said: “Co-op is committed to ensuring that everyone, including children have access to the nutritious food they need in order to thrive. Food poverty has risen at an alarming rate this year and sadly, this is impacting the health of the communities we serve, which is why we felt it was so important to add value to the current Healthy Start scheme.
“It is our sincere hope that this additional £1 will encourage more people to use the scheme, and we welcome the government’s plans to boost voucher values in 2021.”
In May, Marcus Rashford starred in the retailer’s advertising campaign which was aimed at driving donations to food redistribution charity, FareShare. According to Co-op, it resulted in the funding of an additional 4 million meals for vulnerable people.
And, as the largest corporate sponsor of academy schools in England through the Co-op Academies Trust, Co-op said it has also taken a leading stance on the issue of free school meals.
When Co-op Academy Trust schools were closed due to Covid19, the retailer said it continued to fund and provide free schools meal vouchers for all qualifying pupils, including during the Easter and summer school holidays.
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