Healthy Start Scheme
What is the Healthy Start Scheme?
There are over 2000 eligible families in Newham who are missing out on food vouchers for vegetables, fruit, legume/lentils/beans and milk.
Pregnant women and families with children under the age of 4 may be eligible for help to buy healthy food and milk if they are on certain benefits.
Under 18 and pregnant will qualify even if they don’t receive any benefits.
For more information, please visit the healthy start website.
Applying for Healthy Start vouchers does not affect benefits your family may be receiving.
What does Healthy Start provide?
Food vouchers or payments worth:
- £4.25 per week for pregnant women (from 10th week of pregnancy)
- £8.50 per week for babies from birth to 1 year old
- £4.25 per week for children between 1 up to 4 years of age
Healthy Start also provides tokens for free vitamins tablets for pregnant women and new mums and vitamin drops for children.
Vouchers are posted to families every four weeks and vitamin vouchers every eight weeks.
You can find a full list of what you can buy on the NHS website.
How to claim your vouchers
Applying is easy:
- Pick up a free application pack from a Newham library, Children’s Centre, food bank, primary school, health visitors and midwifes. Application forms are now also available at some faith centres, pharmacies and health centres.
- Download and print the Healthy Start Application form: www.healthystart.nhs.uk/how-to-apply
- Complete the form on the website and print out a copy.
If you would like a copy of the form sent to you by post, please call Healthy Start on 0345 607 6823.
Post the completed form for free in the envelope provided:
Freepost RRTR-SYAE-JKCR
Healthy Start Issuing Unit
PO Box 1067
Warrington
WA55 1EG