Last updated:

25th October 2023

Help accessing food

Healthy start

If you’re more than 10 weeks pregnant or have a child under 4, you may be entitled to get help to buy healthy food and milk.

If you’re eligible, you’ll be sent a Healthy Start card with money on it that you can use in some UK shops. 

You can use your card to buy:

  • plain liquid cow’s milk
  • fresh, frozen, and tinned fruit and vegetables
  • fresh, dried, and tinned pulses
  • infant formula milk based on cow’s milk

You can also use your card to collect:

  • Healthy Start vitamins – these support you during pregnancy and breastfeeding
  • vitamin drops for babies and young children – these are suitable from birth to 4 years old

Apply for Healthy Start vouchers.

Fresh fruit, meat, breads and more

SHARE Wokingham is established across the borough to provide fresh vegetables, meats, bread and other produce to people looking to get some help with accessing food.

This is all stock from local food suppliers and supermarkets, which they can no longer sell. You can just turn up on the day with a shopping bag.

You’ll be helping to reduce food waste locally, alongside more than 2,500 other residents. Sites are open:

  • Monday - Shinfield Baptist Church (RG2 9DL), 12.30pm to 2pm
  • Monday – Emmanuel Church Centre, Woodley (RG5 3QW), 3.30pm to 4.30pm
  • Tuesday – FBC Centre, Finchampstead (RG40 4ES), 10am to 11am
  • Tuesday - Hope Church, The Hope Centre, Sunningdale (SL5 0NG), 12 noon to 1pm
  • Wednesday – Rainbow Centre, Winnersh (RG41 5SG), 1pm to 2.30pm
  • Wednesday – The Community Flat, Shinfield (RG2 8EH), 2pm to 3.30pm
  • Wednesday - The Well at Kings Church, Station Road, Wokingham (RG40 2AD), 11am to 3pm - prepare soup, build relationships or sit quietly. Market table with provision at the end
  • Wednesday - St Sebastian's Church, Nine Mile Ride (RG40 3AT) - email office@stsebastians.org.uk if you're local and need help with food
  • Thursday (fortnightly) - Royal British Legion, Arborfield (RG2 9PR), 4pm to 5.30pm
  • Friday – Norreys Church, Wokingham (RG40 1UU), 12.30pm to 2.30pm
  • Friday – St Andrews Church, Bracknell (RG42 1TU), 1pm to 3.30pm

Visit the SHARE Wokingham Facebook page for more information.

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