HELP is at hand for low-income families in South Craven to meet the cost of food for children during the school holidays.

An initiative offering vouchers has been extended to include this month’s half-term break.

A Covid winter grant scheme that provided food voucher payments to parents and carers of youngsters in receipt of free school meals, as well as those hit financially by the pandemic, to help them during holidays had ended.

But the Government has announced that assistance will continue this May half-term, through the Department for Work and Pensions’ Covid Local Support Grant.

North Yorkshire County Council is now sending out funding for the supermarket vouchers to schools, early years providers, child minders and care leavers.

The vouchers, which can be spent in supermarkets by eligible parents and carers, amount to £15 per child for the week.

County Councillor Patrick Mulligan said: “We are very grateful to the schools, nurseries and child minders for their continued help in distributing the vouchers to parents and carers in need of this support.

“We know the vouchers help ease the pressure on families when they are faced with increased food costs while children are not in school.

“We began allocating voucher funding just prior to the Christmas break. Since then it has helped thousands of families across the county.”