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A further £2.4 million has been set aside to help Rotherham residents struggling with the cost of living crisis this winter, as the number of youngsters on free school meals skyrockets.

Almost £900,000 will ensure that supermarket vouchers for youngsters on free school meals can continue through the holidays, and £1.4m will expand the council’s energy crisis support scheme, where residents can receive £250 vouchers to help with their bills.

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The number of Rotherham children in receipt of free school meals rose by almost 4,000 between 2018 and 2021, to almost 11,000.

The number of children receiving free school meal vouchers during the school holidays has risen from 10,159 in December 2020 to just under 12,000 in the 2022 summer holidays.

Cllr Victoria Cusworth told Wednesday’s full council meeting: “Here we are, in the sixth richest country, with children not able to get hat school meal.

“With child poverty increasing, after 13 years of austerity we;’re just seeing that go from bad to worse.

“The number of children receiving free school meal vouchers during the school holidays has risen from 10,159 in December 2020 to just under 12,000 in the 2022 summer holidays.

“They may sound like high numbers of our children in receipt of free school meals, but the truth is, is that the threshold to be able to receive free school meals is incredibly low, and your annual income needs to be lower than £7,400 – so there are lots and lots of families struggling to provide their children with a school meal.”

The funding will ensure that almost 12,000 children across the borough will be able to access free school meals during the Christmas and Easter holidays. Free school meals during the October half-term holidays will be covered by previous funding through the Household Support Fund.

As well as the vouchers, £45,000 will help to support youngsters leaving care, £30,000 will enable voluntary organisations to support an estimated 300 vulnerable families over Christmas and New Year, and £90,000 will supplement crisis food parcels provided by local food banks.

Anyone eligible for the support will be able to receive up to £400 as a one-off payment – households which received support in the first round will now be eligible to apply again, if they need to do so.

To see the full range of support and advice available, go to www.rotherham.gov.uk/money-debt-advice

Further supermarket vouchers for struggling families as almost 12,000 Rotherham children receive free school meals