Free School Meals: Christmas & New Year

Haringey Council will continue to work in partnership with our schools to ensure carers and parents of every child in receipt of Free Schools Meals (FSMs) receive two £15 vouchers over the Christmas and New Year holidays.

This provision – between 21-27 December 2020 & 28 December 2020-4 January 2021 – follows on from the commitment the council made over the one-week October half term, when we pledged our unequivocal support of Marcus Rashford’s campaign calling on the government to feed children over the holidays.

Our network of children’s centres and nurseries, primary and secondary schools and sixth form colleges have been providing the two £15 vouchers to children and young people currently eligible for FSMs, and to any child whose family has no recourse to public funds (NRPF), ahead of the end of term this week (14-18 December 2020).

You should speak to your eligible child’s educational setting in the first instance about receiving your two £15 vouchers if you are still yet to receive them.

However, if you are struggling to receive this additional support at any stage, please call us on: 020 8489 1000 or send an email to: fsm@haringey.gov.uk.

Should your economic and employment circumstances have changed due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and you believe you may now be eligible for this provision, you can always speak to your child’s school about how to apply for FSMs. 

If they don’t self-administer this provision themselves, you can find out more about how to apply on the Haringey Council website.

Haringey parents who were already struggling the most have been hardest hit by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. 

If you – or someone you know – need help, you can access our Haringey Food Network (including food banks) via this map (external link).

As the pandemic continues to hit some of our least well-off residents the hardest, we’re also funding a food network co-ordinator.

Cllr Kaushika Amin, Haringey Council’s Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Children, Education and Families, said: 

Christmas 2020 will be far from normal for all of us. This time of year is likely to be especially difficult for our residents, some of whom are experiencing economic hardship and it is essential they are able to access the advice, help and support they desperately need. We are working with our schools to provide two £15 vouchers to parents of every child who receives Free School Meals ensuring that our children can have enough to eat over the festive period. Haringey Council is also reaching out through our community contacts and schools to support as many children in need as possible. This pandemic has hit our least well-off residents the hardest and, on top of a decade of government austerity, we continue to join other London boroughs in calling on the government to keep to its word to fund local government appropriately amidst the pandemic. I want to thank the community for their inspiring and continuing efforts in response to the challenges that our residents face and Marcus Rashford for his tireless campaigning to end child poverty. Working in partnership with our community networks, there is varied help available in Haringey and further information is available on our website.

Connected Communities is available to support families who need additional help or support. No referral is needed and help can be found at the below locations on the following days and opening times.

Mondays:

Hornsey Health Centre: 10am-4pm.
Marcus Garvey Library: 10am-4pm.
Muswell Hill Library: 10am-2pm.
Wood Green Library: 10am-4pm.

Tuesdays:

Broadwater Farm General Practice: 9:30am-1pm.
Marcus Garvey Library: 10am-4pm.
Northumberland Park Resource Park: 10am-4pm.
Wood Green Library: 10am-4pm.

Thursdays:
Latimer House: 10am-4pm.
Marcus Garvey Library: 10am-4pm.
Wood Green Library: 10am-4pm.

Fridays:
Commerce Road Community Centre: 10am-4pm.
Marcus Garvey Library: 10am-4pm.
Wood Green Library: 10am-4pm.

These arrangements will not be operating over the Christmas and New Year period (24 December 2020-1 January 2021), when there will be a phoneline-only service (020 8489 4431).

Further information is available in the Connected Communities’ Information and Introductions Pack or the Haringey Connected App. The app, which is currently available in English, Polish and Romanian, can be downloaded via the Apple Store (external link) or Google Play Store (external link).

Please call the Connected Communities helpline (020 8489 4431) if you need advice or support. The phone line is open every day except on Bank Holidays.

There’s also assistance – from mental health support and help to stay active to financial assistance and food – available on our Haringey Together pages.

The Covid Winter Grant Scheme

Haringey Council is to receive just under £1m from the Government’s £170m, national Covid Winter Grant Scheme (external link), which has been made available to local authorities in response to increasing levels of hardship caused by the pandemic.

This funding is welcome at a time of significant need, although it must be spent by the end of March 2021 and will only stretch so far.

In terms of how this money can be used, the Government has set some specific rules for local authorities to follow.

Eighty per cent (80%) of the funding must be spent on households with children, and the remaining 20% on households without children. 

Of the 80%, four-fifths (80% again) of that must be ringfenced for supporting families with food, fuel or water.

This will mean that a significant proportion of the funding will, in practice, be earmarked for supporting families with food over the school holiday periods.

Alongside this, we’re working hard to agree plans for how the remaining funds can be used to support those in our borough who are in greatest need over the winter months.