Support in the school holidays
The Crisis and Resilience Fund currently provides the funding for vouchers issued to households during the school holidays. There have been some changes to who will receive vouchers following the introduction of the Crisis and Resilience Fund.
The following groups will receive vouchers in May and July 2026:
Families
Families living in the borough with children attending a state-funded school, who have been confirmed as eligible for benefits-related free school meals, will get supermarket vouchers as outlined below. You do not need to apply for the vouchers.
Vouchers will be provided:
- May 2026 - £15 per child
- July 2026 - £90 per child
If you live outside the borough of Ealing and have a child that attends a school in the borough, you are no longer eligible to receive vouchers in the holidays under the Crisis and Resilience Fund.
Many councils are ending holiday voucher schemes in line with the new Crisis and Resilience Fund guidance.
Please check your local council’s website for details of any additional support that may be available to you.
If you live in the borough, and your child attends a school outside the borough, you may apply for a free school meal voucher only if your child’s school borough does not provide one and you qualify for free school meals because of low income. Free school meal vouchers will not be available after summer 2026.
If you live in a neighbouring borough, please use the contact details below for your local council to find out what support may be available after the voucher programme ends at the end of summer holidays:
- Apply for the Crisis and Resilience Fund (CRF) - London Borough of Hounslow
- Crisis and Resilience Grant - Hillingdon Council
- Resident and Household Support Fund - Brent Council
- Crisis and Resilience Fund (CRF) – London Borough of Harrow
- Crisis payment - London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham
Families with children under the age of 5, who get housing benefit or council tax support will get supermarket vouchers in May and July 2026. You do not need to apply.
Vouchers will be provided:
- May 2026 - £15 per household
- July 2026 - £90 per household
Care leavers
Care leavers will get supermarket vouchers:
- May 2026 - £75 per care leaver
- July 2026 - £75 per care leaver
The final vouchers will be distributed in July 2026. From September onwards, no further supermarket vouchers will be issued to any of the groups outlined above.
From September 2026 all families claiming Universal Credit will become eligible to receive free school meals so more children will receive term-time support. This will not happen automatically and families who meet the criteria must apply for free school meals
All supermarket vouchers are provided by our partners Blackhawk. Families will get an email or letter from Blackhawk with a 16-digit, personalised code and instructions to redeem the vouchers via the Blackhawk website (this is a safe website and Blackhawk are a trusted partner of Ealing Council).
