“We’ve been getting Rose Vouchers for about a year. We were going through some financial difficulties and struggling to afford enough food for our family. We’d moved in with my mum as she was off work and had taken over the household bills. We knew about the foodbank and had used it a few times, then heard about Rose Vouchers through our local children’s centre.
The vouchers have taken the stress off us. We have two young children and get 32 vouchers a month; that’s £32 for fruit and vegetables. This saves us a lot. We don’t buy fruit and veg at the supermarket anymore; we get it all from West Norwood market. It’s more affordable and the portions there are bigger too.
We used to shop at the market occasionally before we had the vouchers, maybe once every three months, but now we visit at least once a fortnight. I don’t want to waste any vegetables we get, so I chop up and freeze whatever’s left over. We normally buy the vegetables my children like, such as broccoli and sweetcorn, and sometimes try different veg if I can sneak it into a meal.
My children absolutely love fruit; they’ll eat every piece of fruit they can. Since we’ve had the Rose Vouchers, we’ve bought more fruit, and I’ve noticed my children have more energy. I think it’s helped keep them well, too, as last winter my 3-year-old was ill quite often, but so far this winter she hasn’t been ill once.
Rose Vouchers have allowed us to have fruit and veg every day. Vegetables would be the first thing we could cut out on the occasions we couldn’t afford to buy them, but now we can put veg in every meal.”