Holiday free school meal vouchers

Holiday free school meal vouchers

Message for parents, carers and families from Gloucestershire County Council.

Free School Meal Vouchers issued for school holiday periods is changing.

Free School Meal vouchers provided during school holidays, which have been funded by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) through the Household Support Fund, are coming to an end. This is because the Household Support Fund is ending, and Free School Meal Vouchers for the spring school holidays will be the last vouchers available under this scheme. A different fund, the Crisis and Resilience Fund is starting from Wednesday 1 April 2026.

We know food vouchers during school holidays have been important for many families and that’s why we’re working hard to ensure those who need support the most can still access it through the new Crisis and Resilience Fund and other support that we are putting in place across Gloucestershire.

To find out more, please:

• Visit Gloucestershire’s Family Hubs website to learn about the support available for families, including the Holiday Activities and Food Programme, which provides great activities and nutritious food for children and young people during the school holidays.
• Look out for information about the incoming Crisis and Resilience Grant Funding, which will offer support for children and young people who are eligible for Free School Meals. Details on what you can expect and how to apply will be shared soon on the Family Hubs website.

Gloucestershire County Council will provide eligible families in receipt of Free School Meals, who sign up for this offer, with support for the cost of food during the school holidays. 

Families who have signed up for the scheme will be supported with food costs with vouchers for a value of £15 per eligible child per qualifying week, during the school holidays. The scheme will apply for one week during the Spring holiday. The offer is separate to that of term-time free school meals and is supported through grant funding. For more information on how the central fund is allocated please visit the what is the household support fund page.

The holiday vouchers are designed to support eligible children and their families where no other provision is available. During the winter, spring and summer holiday periods, there may be weeks where vouchers are not supplied. These periods are supported through the HAF (Holiday Activity and Food) programme which provides a meal for children attending the activities they are booked to and attend. For more information, please visit their webpage on the Family Hubs website here: Gloucestershire HAF. The HAF programme does not provide vouchers for food, it is a separate scheme and cannot issue vouchers as an alternative. 

Vouchers through this scheme were previously sent from select-your-reward, as of Wednesday 1 October 2025 they will be issued by Evouchers and will come from support@evouchers.com.

We are unable to backdate vouchers if people were eligible prior to applying for Free School Meal holiday vouchers.