Hannah Dakin, Operations Project Manager at Alexandra Rose Charity, speaking on Sky News earlier this month about the impact of the cost of living crisis, on the families our Rose Vouchers support.
Our mission is to give families on low-incomes access to fresh fruit and veg in their communities. Over the last eight years, through our Rose Vouchers for Fruit & Veg Project, we have supported over 6,300 families with weekly vouchers for fruit and veg. Families shop at local markets and greengrocers, using their Rose Vouchers to buy the fruit and veg of their choice.
We continue to see the devastating impact the cost of living crisis is having on families, particularly those with low-incomes and young children. The ability to provide healthy and nutritious meals for the whole family is vital yet something which increasingly families are struggling to do. We know our Rose Vouchers make a difference for families, however issues such as the problems with the digitisation of the Healthy Start voucher scheme are exacerbating an already hugely challenging situation with access to healthy food.
“Having Rose Vouchers helps me to budget for different things. You know how much money you’ve got for food. Every bit of money I save by using the vouchers gives me more for something else. It means I don’t have to worry as much – I can put petrol in the car. It’s made a lot of difference for me and my son.”
Rachael, Mum, Barnsley
“The most pressing issue at the moment is Healthy Start… Families are missing out on healthy food because digitisation has failed.”
Hannah Dakin, Alexandra Rose Charity
Earlier this month it was estimated that over 72,000 eligible families who received Healthy Start paper vouchers have not yet transferred to the digital scheme.
We continue to support the campaign to fix these urgent issues.