Survey launched for Healthy Start voucher users

Tameside residents who have previously accessed the Healthy Start Voucher Scheme and those who are currently receiving paper vouchers to buy produce from local shops are being encouraged to take part in an online survey.

The survey is aimed at capturing people's experiences of using the scheme, which provides vouchers worth up to £6.20 a week per child to spend on fresh or frozen fruit and vegetables, milk and vitamins. 

The scheme is eligible to those who are at least 10 weeks pregnant or have a child under four years old, and they or their family get: 

• Income support
• Income-based Jobseekers Allowance
• Income-related Employment and Support Allowance
• Child Tax Credit (with a family income of £16,190 or less per year)
• Universal Credit (with a family take home pay of £408 or less per month)

Feedback from the survey will allow The NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA) to review and shape the future of Healthy Start.

NHS Tameside and Glossop Clinical Commissioning Group, who is encouraging people to take part, say you won't be asked to include any personal or identifiable information. All the information provided will be treated as strictly confidential and individuals will not be identifiable in any report written.

Councillor Eleanor Wills, Executive Member for Adult Social Care and Population Health at Tameside Council, said: "We need as many people as possible in Tameside who are using or have used the vouchers in the past to complete the survey which should only take around ten minutes to complete. We need to gain a varied view of the current Healthy Start Scheme to see where improvements can be made." 

To find out more about the scheme and to take part in the survey, visit https://www.tameside.gov.uk/healthystart or search ‘Tameside Healthy Start’.

Earlier this month, young mum Katherine from Denton expressed how grateful she was to receive free Healthy Start Vouchers to buy nutritious food and milk for her 23-month-old baby boy, after completing the application form inside a leaflet she picked up from her local Children’s Centre.

Meanwhile, earlier this week, Manchester United and England footballer Marcus Rashford announced that he's formed a taskforce with some of the UK's biggest food brands to try to help reduce child food poverty.

One of the three policy recommendations the taskforce is calling to be funded by the government as soon as possible is increasing the value of Healthy Start vouchers and expanding them to all those on Universal Credit or equivalent, thus reaching an additional 290,000 people.