The client
East Renfrewshire Council is responsible for supporting a community of just under 100,000 people who live south west of Glasgow. Over the past twelve months the housing and education teams have turned to Edenred to help provide financial support for vulnerable children and refugees by using its Compliments Select Platform.
The initial challenge – Education after Covid-19
As Covid-19 restrictions eased ahead of the summer of 2021, the council wanted to find a way of ensuring the 1,500 children and young people eligible for free school meals continued to get support through the summer and autumn holidays.
Having previously provided families with food pack deliveries, the council wanted to reduce the burden on the facilities management staff and give families greater flexibility and choice in the food they received.
Edenred worked with the council to set up a voucher scheme using its Compliments Select solution. Instead of providing a parcel, each family was issued with a unique code via email they used to log on to the Select platform where they could choose vouchers to spend at a retailer of their choice. Over the course of the two holidays, the council put £174,000 of vouchers into the hands of families.
“From our perspective, it was an easy scheme to manage. We issued the vouchers on a fortnightly basis to the main contact’s email. If for any reason they weren’t received, we were able to cancel the codes and ensure they were reissued, giving us complete control over the scheme.
The families were able to choose from all local supermarkets to make it as flexible as possible.”
May Harvey-Welsh, Procurement Category Manager
A second challenge - The Ukrainian Resettlement Scheme
In early 2022, following the outbreak of war in Ukraine, East Renfrewshire was expecting around 80 refugees to resettle in the area in the first year.
Anticipating an influx of people with limited resources, the council wanted each refugee to be able to buy the right package of toiletries and hygene essentials when they arrived, alongside an initial food package.
By using Edenred’s Compliments Select vouchers, the council’s housing team has ensured each new arrival can choose the essentials that meets their personal needs rather than a standard package of hygene goods.
“It has been great to provide support in this way. Each individual can download a voucher so there is no stigma when it comes to buying the goods they need. We’ve so far supported 45 individuals and have another eight hosts being matched and it is a core part of the welcome pack.”
Laura Moir, Senior Environment Officer
The impact
“When the war broke out in Ukraine, we had an influx of refugees that needed urgent care and essential items. It was important to us that these vulnerable people felt wanted accepted and valued within our community, which included giving them options and the ability to choose which core items they needed most. Using the existing framework, we were able to quickly and easily distribute supermarket vouchers, which eased the transition for them into their new life.”
May Harvey-Welsh, Procurement Category Manager
