Iceland is giving away another 40,000 £30 food vouchers to pensioners struggling with the cost of living – here's how to get yours

The campaign first launched earlier this month, with Iceland providing an initial 40,000 £30 food vouchers to struggling pensioners. But on 24 August 2022, the supermarket announced it had secured a further £1 million for another 40,000 vouchers.

Below we explain who qualifies and how to get the voucher. You can also see our Supermarket shopping tips guide for handy hints on how to cut your food bill.

Here's who qualifies for the voucher

To qualify for the £30 voucher, you must be of state pension age, live independently (but not necessarily alone) or with a carer, and rely solely on your state pension or other benefits for food and essentials. You can get more than one voucher per household, for example, if you're in a couple. 

You must also live in: 

• Birmingham

• Croydon

• Glamorgan

• Glasgow

• Greater Manchester

• Huddersfield

• Lambeth (London)

• Liverpool

• Newcastle

• Newport

• North Wales

• Sheffield

• Strathclyde

• Sunderland

• West Midlands

• Wirral

We've asked Iceland if you need to provide proof of your state pension and/or benefits status, and your address. We'll update this story when we know more.

You need to call to apply for a voucher

You can apply for the voucher by calling the free 'Cheer hotline' on 0800 098 7877 from 9am to 5pm, Monday to Friday. Iceland has warned that it's currently receiving a large volume of calls, but if you use the call back function you should receive a return call by the end of the day.

Once you've successfully applied, your voucher will arrive by post within seven days. A paper voucher is the only way to get your £30, it will not be sent by bank transfer or cheque and cannot be picked up in store.

Go quick if you want a voucher as they're being snapped up

The application deadline is still Friday 16 September, but if you qualify, you should apply NOW. The first lot of vouchers were snapped up very quickly.

It's one voucher per person, so you can't reapply if you've already received one.

Vouchers can be spent in 269 Iceland stores across the UK

You can spend your voucher in 269 Iceland stores across the UK, though bear in mind this is only around a quarter of Iceland shops. Use Iceland's store locator tool to check for your nearest participating outlet.

Vouchers can be used on food and household items, though not on alcohol and tobacco. You can use your voucher across more than one transaction, so if your shop does not reach £30, you can partially spend the voucher and save the rest for another time. Just take your voucher to the till and the cashier will scan it as they would do with a normal gift card.

You can also use your voucher in conjunction with Iceland's 10% discount for pensioners, which it runs every Tuesday.

ALL vouchers will expire at 11.59pm on 31 December 2022.

How the scheme is funded

Iceland has partnered with the Rothesay Foundation, which helps support charities to provide better care for older people, to fund the scheme. The Rothesay Foundation has now provided £2 million to pay for 80,000 vouchers nationwide.

The supermarket first trialled the concept in December 2021 in Lambeth, south London, before rolling it out UK-wide from 1 August 2022.