The card will help to deliver change and lifestyle improvements on a large scale. It will also increase participation in many of the services on offer supporting the five outcomes in the Every Child Matters agenda, enabling young people to maximise their life chances and it will also help us to achieve one of the key objectives of the NHS, which is to reduce demand for medical intervention and will give health professionals the flexibility to do things like formally prescribe physical activity.  

The card will also remove the stigma of receiving a 'free school meal' through the introduction of cashless catering in schools. This is because every student will purchase their meal using the card, with those students entitled to free school meals having their meal allowance automatically credited to their card.  

Parents will also be able to monitor their child's school meal choices and access nutritional information such as how much fat or carbohydrate their child has consumed in a week as a proportion of their meal choices. Cashless transactions will be faster and will shorten queues and the card will mean pupils will not have to carry cash around with them.  

Due to the huge success of the launch of the Street Base brand in the summer, the youth reward card for young people aged 11 - 19 years will be part of the brand.  

Cllr Liam Smith, Leader of Barking and Dagenham Council, said: "Barking and Dagenham is the first borough to introduce the groundbreaking youth reward card.  
"The integrated card will transform access to youth, leisure, library and health services for young people in a way that has never been seen before. We are extremely excited about being the first borough to do this.  

"One of the aims is to increase participation in positive activities and the card will allow them to do this much easier than before.  
"The card will also reduce replication in registration for services and by developing a universal form of access, stigmas will be removed. It will also change how the council works with NHS Barking and Dagenham."  

Stephen Langford, NHS Barking and Dagenham Chief Executive, said: "This is a massive step forward in the delivery of services to children and young people. For the first time anywhere in the UK, young people will be able to use a swipe card to borrow a library book, buy their school lunch, visit the local swimming pool or get access to free and confidential health advice and support. It's a fantastic scheme.  

Matthew Cole, Joint Director of Public Health, said: "Our research shows us that young people want access to a wide range of different services but they're reluctant to register for them individually. This card solves that problem. From now on, if a young person is registered for one service in the borough, they can access all of them.  

"The more healthy choices a person makes the greater the rewards will be. We're confident this programme will have a real impact on reducing obesity and improving sexual and mental health among local young people.  

"The information provided by the cards will also give us a much better appreciation of which services young people use and how they use them. That's great, because it means we can shape our health programmes to better meet their needs. "  

Cllr Rocky Gill, cabinet member for education and children's wellbeing, said: "We have over 45,000 young people in the borough and we need to support and help them on their way to a better and healthier lifestyle.  

"The card will make life easier for young people as they will be able to access a number of services using just one card."

Nationwide Retail Systems Ltd are installing the central council and school solution with tust-e.
Call us on 01226 732200 for more details.