ESF+ Food 4 You Support Project

Deprived households, particularly those including children and elderly, will be targeted through periodic distribution of food packages with the aim to address material deprivation. An emphasis will be placed on improving the living standards of people living in these households and alleviating their risk of poverty.

Families will be supported through the distribution of free food packages and will also be provided with accompanying social support from professional officers in the area of social welfare services.

This new project is co-financed by the European Social Fund+ Programme of the European Union. 

In addition to material assistance to families who are most in need or vulnerable, this project shall also contribute towards the reduction of poverty and social exclusion.

Through this project, a variety of food products will be distributed to those who are eligible aimed at helping a person to maintain a balanced and varied diet.

The food packages distributed to households under the ESF+ project shall consist of the following items:  Cereal (whole wheat), Corn flakes, Pasta, Rice, Vegetables (tinned), Tomato Pulp (tinned), Fruit (tinned), Tuna chunks, Corned Beef, Sausages (tinned), Baked Beans (tinned), Couscous, Pulses or Legumes, Tea and Coffee.

Distributions of the food packages will be carried out approximately three (3) times per year.

The eligible persons who will benefit from this project will not need to apply for their entitlement since they will receive a letter in advance informing them from which distribution centre, date, and time, they can collect the food packages they are entitled to.

The food packages will be distributed in circa eighteen (18) centres spread around Malta and Gozo to facilitate as much as possible the collection of food to those who are eligible.

For any information regarding eligibility under the new ESF+ Project and other related queries, please contact the Strategy and Implementation Division either on 25903174 or by sending an email on foodsupport.family@gov.mt. For any assistance required during the actual collection (such as mobility or transportation issues) kindly contact us on 22588929 or 79013090.

The general eligibility criteria shall be as follows:

• Category 1: Families who receive non-contributory benefit and pass the Means Test and have two (2) or more children under the age of eighteen (18) years.

• Category 2: Families who have two (2) or more children under the age of eighteen (18) years and have an income of less than eighty percent (80%) of the National Minimum Wage.

• Category 3: Families who have two (2) or more children under the age of eighteen (18) years and whose income does not exceed the National Minimum Wage.

• Category 4: Families (which are not single-household persons) receiving a non-contributory Age Pension.

Those families who are eligible under Category 2 will receive an additional package, while families under Categories 1 and 3 who have three (3) children or more under the age of eighteen (18) years will also be entitled to an additional food package.