Managing finances, food and wellbeing over the summer holidays

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The Gloucestershire Family Support Guide

The Gloucestershire Family Support Guide connects families with useful resources locally, which can help with cost-of-living concerns, wellbeing and activities during the school holidays.

Gloucestershire’s Holiday and Activities Fund has produced this helpful booklet to guide and signpost families to access available food, activities and wellbeing, including:

• Free and low-cost foods
• Foodbanks
• Food support for under 4s
• More help feeding the family
• Physical activity guidelines
• Household support
• Welfare and health support
• Mental health and wellbeing
• Dental and oral health
• Adult Education in Gloucestershire
• Advice from the Government

To see copies of this booklet, please visit the Grants and Additional Help page in the Money and Financial Support category of Gloucestershire’s Local Offer, Support for Families with SEND 

Free Child bus travel August 2026

The UK Government has announced that all children aged 5–15 will be able to travel free on participating local bus services throughout August 2026 as part of a summer holiday cost-of-living support scheme. Although participation in the scheme is voluntary, almost all Gloucestershire bus operators have signed up to take part, with only one operator opting out. We also welcome the Department for Transport's decision to include Robin Demand Responsive Transport (DRT) services within the offer.

For more information, please see the announcement from Gloucestershire County Council.

Food map

Gloucestershire is home to a rich network of community-led food projects. This new Gloucestershire Food Support Map helps bring these efforts together, making it easier for families to find support and helping partners understand the wider food system, coordinate services, and identify gaps.

Co‑developed with community partners, the map features over 115 organisations and offers an easy way for families to connect with the food support that best meets their needs. Support is organised using the Food Ladder model to help families find the support that best fits their specific situation:

The map is available at: https://www.feedinggloucestershire.org.uk/food-map/

If you belong to, or know of,  a community food project who would like to feature on the map: https://forms.cloud.microsoft/e/njwvAfmS9x

The NHS Low Income Scheme (LIS)

Many young people on low incomes are delaying or avoiding healthcare because they believe they cannot afford it or wrongly assume they are not entitled to help with NHS health costs.

• LIS a national NHS scheme, available to people in Gloucestershire, that helps people on a low income pay for some NHS health costs.
• LIS helps people on a low income with the cost of NHS prescriptions, dental treatment, sight tests, glasses or contact lenses, travel to receive NHS treatment and certain hospital costs, including wigs and fabric supports.
• If a person has already paid for NHS treatment, they may also be able to claim a refund when they apply for the scheme.

NHS Help with Health Costs for Universal Credit claimants

Many patients incorrectly believe that Universal Credit automatically provides free NHS treatment. Incorrect claims can result in:

• Penalty charge notices
• Repayment of treatment costs
• Additional stress and financial hardship

Where entitlement is uncertain, patients should be advised to pay the charge, retain receipts, and seek advice about their eligibility.

For more information, please visit the NHS website pages on LIS or a summary from Healthwatch, Gloucestershire.

Please visit the cost-of-living pages which is on Gloucestershire County Council website, detailing the support offered by each district.

For more information on Money and Financial support, please visit the Gloucestershire’s Local Offer, Support for Families with SEND 

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