Rotherham: Vulnerable to get share of £2m winter help fund

Rotherham Council has confirmed it will spend more than £2m to help low-income families

More than £2m will be spent supporting vulnerable people in Rotherham in the winter months, the council has said.

The cash would be spent on vouchers for children receiving free school meals and support for people struggling with energy bills, the authority confirmed.

Additional funding would also go to support young people who were leaving care and to provide more tinned goods for food banks.

The money will come from the government's Household Support Fund.

In a Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council report, the authority confirmed it would spend £899,000 to provide supermarket vouchers to children receiving free school meals until Easter 2023.

"Continuing to provide vouchers to children eligible for free school meals to cover school holidays will carry forward support to low-income families in a manner that has proved effective," it said.

According to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, the authority would also spend £1.4m helping vulnerable residents struggling with energy bills.

A further £45,000 would go to people leaving care and £30,000 for vulnerable families over Christmas, it added.

Meanwhile, food banks would receive £90,000 in additional tinned food and a further £25,000 for non-food items.

Demand for help with "crisis food" remained high, the council added.

The report said: "The nature of what is being declared surplus has changed in recent months, with tinned food, especially meat, fish, vegetables and fruit, becoming increasingly short in supply.

"There is an option to purchase tinned stock to be added to the surplus stock received from the food industry."

Rotherham's Trussell Trust food bank said it had supported 1,908 clients since April and given out almost four tonnes of food since August.