Iceland launches £30 voucher campaign for pensioners

Iceland Foods launched its "Summer Cheer" Campaign on August 1, a seven-week initiative that enables eligible pensioners to receive a £30 Iceland gift voucher. The voucher can be used in up to 269 Iceland stores from any of the 17 chosen locations nationwide.

The supermarket chain partnered with the Rothesay Foundation, one of the country's most prominent pensions insurance specialists. Iceland's Managing Director (MD), Richard Walker, tweeted, "We're proud to be joining forces with The Rothesay Foundation and @age_uk to support more older people tackle the rising cost of living."

The launching of the partnership was done after Age UK published its research, which showed that 1.7 million pensioners lived in poverty from the year 2020 to 2021. That number amounts to 15% of all government-aided senior citizens.

Addy Loudiadis, CEO of Rothesay, released a statement in a joint press release with Iceland, saying, "We hope our vouchers will provide a small amount of relief to the growing number of older people living in real financial difficulty in the UK. Going forward, we are committed to working with brilliant partners like Iceland and Age UK to help as many pensioners as possible get access to their full benefit allowances."

Those eligible for this voucher are local pension-age residents, living on their own or with a caretaker and relying solely on the state pension and its benefits.

Lexico.com defines a pension as "a regular payment made by the state to people of or above the official retirement age and to some widows and disabled people."

This campaign will only be available in areas with the highest number of pensioners living in material deprivation—North Wales, Huddersfield, Barnsley, Sheffield, Glasgow, Strathclyde, Greater Manchester, Liverpool, Wirral, Newcastle North, Sunderland, Birmingham, West Midlands, Glamorgan, Newport, Lambeth, Croydon.

Citizens who fit the criterion can contact the Summer Cheer hotline (0800 098 7877), which is available from Mondays to Fridays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.