FAMILIES are being urged to check if they qualify for the Healthy Start scheme.

With Healthy Start, you get free vouchers every week to spend on milk, fresh, frozen, and tinned fruit and vegetables, fresh, dried, and tinned pulses, and infant formula milk. You can also get free vitamins.

Cornwall Council says that the number of families eligible has increased by around a third through the pandemic, but not everyone has taken it up yet.

About half of eligible families currently claim the voucher for fruit and veg and just 2% of those that are eligible collect the vitamins.

Cabinet Member for Children, Wellbeing and Public Health, Sally Hawken, said: “The impact of the pandemic on families has been profound and I would urge anyone who thinks they may be eligible to get in touch.

“The scheme can be worth up to £900 per child over their first four years of life and add at least £3.10 to a family shop per-child per-week, but this will raise to £4.25 in April following the campaign by the England Footballer Marcus Rashford.”

“Under the scheme, along with a voucher, families are also entitled to claim vitamins, which include Vitamin D; the Vitamins are a great way to supplement someone’s diet and the benefits can be huge.”

Healthy Start vitamins contain vitamins A, C and D for children aged from birth to four years, and folic acid and vitamins C and D for pregnant and breastfeeding women. Healthy Start vitamins are important because 8% of children under five in the UK don’t have enough vitamin A in their diet and families in lower-income groups tend to have less vitamin C in their diet.

The vitamins are available to exchange for vouchers in pharmacies across Cornwall with a network of 30 across the county, supported by the Local Pharmacy Committee.

To qualify a family must be on job seekers allowance, income support or in receipt of other qualifying benefits – around 4330 people in Cornwall. Every eight weeks families are sent a green vitamin voucher, which they can swap for either Healthy Start women’s vitamin tablets or Healthy Start children’s drops in pharmacies across Cornwall.

Sally Hawken added: “A healthy balanced diet is essential and the fruit, vegetables and vitamins that this scheme provides helps children as they grow. I would urge anyone who uses the vouchers, already to take up the free vitamins and anyone on these benefits to speak to their health visitor or midwife to see if they qualify.”

To qualify you must be at least 10 weeks pregnant or have a child under four years old and you or your family get:

• Income Support, or

• Income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance, or

• Income-related Employment and Support Allowance, or

• 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)

You also qualify if you are under 18 and pregnant, even if you don’t get any of the above benefits.