Sainsbury’s launches £18 Christmas top-up for Healthy Start families

Sainsbury’s has announced a festive initiative to provide eligible NHS Healthy Start customers in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland with an additional £18 for nutritious food. The scheme offers an extra £3 per week for six weeks leading up to Christmas.

To qualify, customers must register on the Sainsbury’s website by 11:59 pm on 9 November 2026. The vouchers, issued as eGift cards via email starting 18 November, are intended for use on fresh, frozen, tinned, or dried fruit and vegetables, as well as beans and pulses. Each £3 voucher must be used within seven days of receipt.

Eligibility is tied to the government’s Healthy Start scheme, which supports low-income pregnant women and families with children under four. To participate in the Sainsbury’s offer, customers must have used both their Healthy Start Mastercard and a Nectar card in the same transaction at Sainsbury’s between 20 October 2025 and 20 October 2026.

The move follows a 2021 trial which showed that customers using top-up coupons purchased an average of 13 more portions of fruit and vegetables per basket. Public health minister Dame Diana Johnson has welcomed the announcement.