Tower Hamlets has the highest rates of child poverty in the country, which means that children do not always have access to the healthy food that they need to get the best start in life. The Healthy Start scheme is there to help those who need it and give them support to get a healthier start in life. However, 35% of eligible families still haven’t signed up.
The GP Care Group’s Health Visiting and School Nursing Team is working with the Maternity and Early Years Public Health Team to encourage more families to sign up to receive free healthy start vouchers and vitamins. These vouchers can have a life-changing value of over £1,000 per child over their lifetime (if claimed from pregnancy to the child’s 4th birthday) to be spent on healthy food and milk.
Eligible families can sign up at any time and receive weekly vouchers to spend on fruit, veg, milk, and pulses in local shops and markets.
You can find out more about the healthy start vouchers on Tower Hamlets Council’s website, click here.
