Households can get supermarket vouchers worth up to £75 to help with the cost of living.
The cost of living help is coming from the Government's Household Support Fund scheme. This scheme gives local councils a pot of cash to spend on supporting residents with the cost of living. Each local authority decides how they spend their money and support usually ranges from cash payments to supermarket and energy vouchers.
West Sussex County Council recently confirmed that it was going to provide supermarket vouchers to households that were struggling. The support is not being given automatically, and households need to apply for the help. Successful households will then be provided with a supermarket voucher based on the size of their household.
Homes with one or more adults, or those with one child will be given a voucher worth £50. While households with two or more children could receive £75. Households can then use their vouchers at a range of different supermarket chains which include Aldi, Asda, B&M, Iceland, M&S, Tesco and Sainsbury's.
With your application form, you will need to "provide evidence of hardship" which West Sussex County Council will then use to assess your eligilibty for the help. These documents can include proof of ID, a recent bill as proof of address and residence in West Sussex and evidence of benefits. West Sussex Council says your application will not be processed if you do not include the supporting documentation.
If successful, the supermarket vouchers will be issued to the email in the application and can take up to 72 hours to arrive. If an email address is not provided, then vouchers will be posted to the applicant's address, which could take longer. You can put in your application for the help through the West Sussex County Council website.
If you are not a resident of West Sussex you will not be able to claim this help however your local council will be offering its own help through the Household Support fund. Local authorities are starting to announce what support they are giving between now and September 2024 when the scheme will end. To find out what this is you should go to your local council's website. Usually, they will have a separate cost of living tab which details the help on offer.