J Sainsbury : Sainsbury's tops up Healthy Start vouchers to help feed over half a million families

The retailer is providing a £2 coupon towards customers' next shop to help families in need over half term and beyond.

• Sainsbury's is topping up Healthy Start vouchers with £2 coupon towards next shop
• The coupon is redeemable against fruit and veg and will be automatically issued to those using a Healthy Start voucher at check out
• Top up is latest step in Sainsbury's food donation programme helping ensure families have access to nutritious food
• The coupons will be available in England for half term from 15 February for twelve weeks
• Retailer also enabling customers to donate to FareShare when they shop online, building on £16m donations to charitable causes since start of the pandemic

As part of its ongoing commitment to support the communities it serves, Sainsbury's has today announced it will be expanding its food donation programme by topping up the Government's Healthy Start vouchers by £2 in England- a move that could help more than half a million people have access to nutritious food.

Launching on 15 February, customers who redeem the Government's Healthy Start voucher when shopping in Sainsbury's will automatically receive a coupon worth £2 to use towards fresh and frozen fruit and vegetables during their next shop.

Healthy Start vouchers are provided by the Government to low-income pregnant women and families with a child under the age of four. The scheme provides eligible families with a voucher worth £3.10 to spend on cows' milk, infant formula milk, fresh, frozen and tinned fruit and vegetables as well fresh, dried and tinned pulses with no added fat, sugar and salt.

Redeemable in 552 Sainsbury's supermarkets, the coupon will automatically generate at checkout meaning there is no additional action needed from the customer. The coupon aims to help families in need have access to nutritious produce through half term and beyond. The scheme will run for twelve weeks and any coupons generated during the twelfth week of the offer will remain valid for an additional two weeks.

Topping up Healthy Start vouchers is the latest way in which Sainsbury's is expanding its food donation programme and supporting those in need. Since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, together with customers the retailer has donated over to £16m FareShare, the UK's largest charity fighting hunger and food waste, as well as Comic Relief and local food banks across the UK - a move that has facilitated 24 million meals.

Now, following a successful trial in August which saw £120,000 raised, Sainsbury's has launched a donation service on its grocery shopping website that allows customers to donate to FareShare directly. Whether £1, £2, £5 or £10, every donation will go towards charities and local community groups.

Ruth Cranston, Group Head of Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability, commented: 'The effects of the pandemic have been far reaching so it is crucial that we support families that may be struggling at this time. At Sainsbury's, we want to support those in our communities who need it most, which is why we're topping up the Government's Healthy Start vouchers to make sure as many people as possible have access to nutritious food. Alongside our ongoing partnerships with FareShare and local food banks, we hope this goes some way to help people through this difficult time.'

Anna Taylor OBE, Executive Director at Food Foundation, added: 'The pandemic is continuing to put very real pressure on families, so it's wonderful to see Sainsbury's join the increasing number of retailers moving to add value to the scheme by directly helping its customers. It's particularly great that Sainsbury's has committed to adding £2 to redeem on fruit on veg, which is a significant add-on to the value of the vouchers and will make a difference in supporting families with young children to access nutritious food.'

Sainsbury's is a member of Marcus Rashford's Child Food Poverty Task Force, a coalition of charities and food businesses working together to end child food poverty.

Marcus Rashford, MBE also commented: 'When forming the Child Food Poverty Taskforce, there was an overwhelmingly strong appetite from the food industry to play an active role in combating child food poverty across the UK. I am really proud of the commitment members such as Sainsbury's have shown in recent months to achieve this. Childhood development is a key focus, making sure nutritional needs are met to support growth, and overall health. My greatest ambition is to see children starting life on an equal playing field, regardless of the area they grow up in. This top-up is a step in the right direction and will make a big difference in guaranteeing children get everything they need to conquer daily challenges.'