The Household Support Fund maybe able to help with:

• financial support toward current energy and water costs
• financial support toward energy and water debts only
• help to repair, service and replace broken boilers and heating systems
• support with food costs or direct provision of food
• support with wider essentials

What the HSF will not help with:

• payment of mortgage costs
• to pay off debts

For advice with your finances please contact Citizen’s Advice. To find your local Citizen’s Advice please visit Worcestershire Advice Network

Act on Energy give support for energy costs across Worcestershire. 

You have to:

• be a permanent Worcestershire resident
• have a combined overall household income of no more than £31,000 (before tax)
• have no household savings 
• have someone at home has some form of vulnerability e.g. disability, long term health condition, unmanageable debt.

To apply for energy support, please visit:

• Worcestershire Household Support Fund Phase 5

Pensioners

Pensioners on pension credit should have had a one-off payment already. If you have just started receiving pension credit, you will receive a voucher in the coming weeks, and you do not need to apply. This will be issued to you in the form of a voucher directly by the county council.

Pensioner, Carer and Disabled households

Support is available in the form of a £75 cash voucher for pensioners, carers of any age, people with a disability, or long-term health condition of any age. Eligibility criteria applies, for more information please visit:

• Worcestershire Advice Network

To find more information on support available in your area, please visit:

• Support and Advice - Malvern Hills District Council
• Cost of living support - Wychavon District Council
• Support with cost of living crisis - Worcester City Council
• Cost of Living Support - Bromsgrove District Council
• Cost of Living Support - Redditch District Council
• Household support fund - Wyre Forest District Council
• Act on Energy
• Worcestershire Advice Network

Please note this is not an emergency support service, it may take a number of weeks for applications to be processed.

Applying for someone

We want to help as many vulnerable people as possible. Sometimes this means a support worker or person helping you can apply on your behalf.

Affect to benefits

This support is available to all who qualify and will not affect your benefits. It is also available to people not on benefits where other criteria are met.

Multiple applications

The HSF helps people every year, you may have applied before and had help, this does not mean you would not be automatically refused help again.

No recourse to public funds

The fund allows us to provide a basic safety net support to an individual, regardless of their immigration status, if there is a genuine need that does not arise solely from destitution, for example if:

• there are community care needs
• they have serious health problems
• there is a risk to a child’s wellbeing

Help with food and other essentials may be available, contact your local District Council  for more information.

For help to find a local food bank visit:

• The Trussell Trust
• Independent Food Aid Network

You may have a child who attends school and you don’t get a lot of money, for more information about Free School Meals visit: Apply for Free School Meals.

Healthy Start is a Government Scheme that provides weekly vouchers to parents and can help you if you’re pregnant or have a young child under four. These vouchers can be spent on milk, fruit and vegetables and infant formula milk at your local shops and supermarkets, as well as offering coupons for free vitamins too.

For more information about the scheme, visit Healthy Start.