Cambridgeshire County Council is working with district and city councils to contact families who are eligible for Healthy Start support, aiming to help more residents access financial assistance to buy healthy food for their young children.
Supporting the Council's ambition to enable full and healthy lives for all, throughout November, around 1700 households across Cambridgeshire will be contacted by their district or city council by letter, email, phone call and text message. Each household has been identified through the Low-Income Family Tracker (LIFT) platform as potentially eligible for Healthy Start support and will be encouraged to apply if they are not already receiving it. Families not contacted are still encouraged to check if they are eligible, as they could be missing out on hundreds of pounds a year.
Healthy Start is a national NHS scheme that provides financial support to eligible pregnant women and families with young children to help them buy healthy food and milk. For each child aged under 4, eligible families receive £4.65 per week, and this doubles to £9.30 per week for infants under the age of 1. This money is loaded onto a card that can be used in most supermarkets to buy items such as cow’s milk and fresh fruit and vegetables.
The targeted campaign is the latest income maximisation initiative delivered through LIFT, which was procured following approval by Cambridgeshire County Council’s Communities, Social Mobility and Inclusion Committee earlier this year.
LIFT has been purchased for district and city councils in Cambridgeshire by the County Council using funding from the UK Government’s Crisis and Resilience Fund, as part of a wider programme of anti-poverty initiatives designed to increase household incomes, improve financial resilience and prevent families from falling into crisis.
Research suggests that Healthy Start remains one of the most underclaimed forms of financial support across England. It is estimated that just 62% of eligible families in Cambridgeshire currently claim the benefit, meaning families across the county could be collectively missing out on more than £431,000 of support every year.
The campaign will directly target households across all five Cambridgeshire districts:
- Cambridge City Council: 413 households identified
- East Cambridgeshire District Council: 165 households identified
- Fenland District Council: 332 households identified
- Huntingdonshire District Council: 468 households identified
- South Cambridgeshire District Council: 395 households identified
Households that are contacted will receive information about the support available and how to apply, and households that do not receive a letter are still encouraged to check if they are eligible.
Councillor Alison Whelan, Chair of the Communities, Social Mobility and Inclusion Committee at Cambridgeshire County Council, said:
"We know that many families across Cambridgeshire continue to face significant cost-of-living pressures, and Healthy Start can provide valuable support at a time when every pound counts.
"Through this targeted campaign, we're helping families access money that they are entitled to, putting additional income into household budgets while supporting healthy eating and giving children the best possible start in life.
"This is exactly the kind of prevention-first approach our new anti-poverty programme is designed to deliver. By working with our district and city council partners to identify and contact families who may be missing out on support, we're helping residents build greater financial security and resilience for the future. It also supports the council's ambition to enable full and healthy lives for all."
The campaign forms part of a wider package of anti-poverty measures agreed by Cambridgeshire County Council in June, including investment in income maximisation services, targeted outreach support and a new crisis payment scheme.
Families can check whether they are eligible and apply for Healthy Start online at www.healthystart.nhs.uk.
Although there have been no reported incidents of scams linked to this campaign, residents are reminded that if they are ever in doubt about the authenticity of a letter, email, text message or phone call, they can contact their district or city council directly for verification. Information about spotting and reporting scams is available on the Cambridgeshire County Council website.
