Household Support Fund
West Northamptonshire Council welcomes the announcement that the Household Support Fund will be extended until April 2025.
We are expecting to receive guidance from the government in the coming weeks as to how the funding is to be distributed. We will then seek approval from West Northamptonshire Cabinet and update this page to confirm how this funding can be accessed within West Northamptonshire.
West Northamptonshire Councillors have approved plans for distributing this funding in line with the Government guidance.
This includes:
- providing around 12,700 families with children on benefits related free school meals with vouchers over the summer holidays for food and school essentials such as uniforms
- providing grants to voluntary and community organisations allowing them to increase the dedicated and tailored support that they offer to residents
- continuing to work closely with our trusted partners to provide tailored support to residents with:
- debt and money advice
- energy saving advice
- practical energy saving measures
- practical household support
All awards and funding are complimented by wrap around support schemes to help transition households from crisis support to more sustainable longer-term offer of financial wellbeing.
Cost of living
Further information and support can be found on:
Pupils in receipt of benefits-related free school meals
Voucher links providing support for both of the Spring Term School Holidays were issued in March and May 2024 to all eligible pupils. These links have now expired and cannot be backdated.
Grocery vouchers have now been issued to schools or parents/carers of all pupils in receipt of benefits related free school meals. These are valued at £15 per child, per week of the summer holiday (some schools are eligible for 6 weeks, and some are eligible for 5 weeks).
A further £30 School Essentials voucher has also been issued to support with the purchase of school uniform, shoes, stationery or books.
Support where you live
Local Voluntary and Community Organisations have been able to apply for grants funded by the Household Support Fund. This allows them to use their knowledge and understanding of the needs of residents in order to provide tailored support.
The list of grants that have been awarded so far can be seen below. If you are in receipt of support from any of these organisations, you may be able to access the programmes funded by these grants.
| Organisation | Grant (£) | Project name | Project aim |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ailsa's Aim | £22,500 | Providing Essential Care Packs for Cancer patients in Northampton General Hospital | Provide 3000 Essential Care packs containing toiletries and other personal care items completely free of charge to patients with Cancer, their carers/families at Northampton General Hospital |
| Albanian Cultural Association | £18,000 | Food Aid | To ensure that those in need have access to essential food items through the distribution of food support, thereby alleviating hunger and improving nutritional outcomes. Offering people the opportunity to choose and purchase their preferred food item, promoting dignity and autonomy. |
| Aquarius | £5,000 | Ngage with Aquarius Household Support Fund | Provide crisis support to vulnerable households in need helping them to afford essential items. Promoting long term benefits by providing items and support to help reduce household bills and improve financial stability. Supporting young people aged 16 -25 transitioning into independent living including care leavers and people with experience of homelessness |
| Baby Basics | £10,922.90 | Dream Safe Baby in West Northants | Promote safer sleeping and provide safer sleeping items to those struggling to afford safe and suitable items |
| BAK UP CIC | £15,000 | BACK UP HOUSEHOLD SUPPORT | Provision of white goods, wider support and food boxes |
| Brackley Food Bank | £7,800 | Additional support – School Holiday Period | Food funding |
| Bridge Substance Misuse Programme Ltd | £10,500 | Member Crisis Support Fund | Helping people in active recovery with immediate, crisis needs; particularly those with children or other dependents. Offering energy efficiency advice, materials or appliances, wrap around support, food & courses |
| Bugbrooke Food Bank | £7,400 | Food aid and energy cost support in Bugbrooke and surrounding villages | Transitioning the food bank into a sustainable community larder, paying for food costs, subsidising larder membership fees, expand reach to families in need during the summer holidays and provide support to those identified as being in energy debt |
| C2C Social Action | £62,937 | Northampton Women’s Centre | Supporting vulnerable women involved or at risk of involvement in the criminal justice system. Address immediate needs and promoting long-term stability for women and their households in particular around food, finances and household poverty |
| Castle Hill URC Foodbank | £20,000 | Castle Hill Foodbank | To provide energy support for those most in need. Support with transitioning residents from food banks to community larders |
| Community Spaces Northampton | £33,400 | HSF5 – Cook, Chat and Choose: Supporting You | Providing support with holiday clubs, cooking classes and cooking equipment |
| Daventry Contact | £10,000 | Free Furniture for vulnerable households (April to September 2024) | Providing furniture, household items and white goods to anyone who needs it but cannot afford to buy it from other sources |
| Daventry Food Bank | £5,000 | Food Aid | To ease some of the stress that people/ families already accessing the Daventry Food Bank are facing |
| Doddridge Centre Limited | £2,147.25 | Assistance with Household items | Help with household items which low income households or vulnerable individuals might not be able to afford |
| Food Aid Far Cotton | £4,000 | Food Aid Far Cotton Household Support | Help for visitors to the foodbank with specific needs in addition to receiving emergency food parcels. Allowing vulnerable households to purchase food items that cant be stocked in the foodbank such as baby formula and specialist medical dietary food |
| Food for Thought Daventry | £59,216 | Food for Thought Daventry | Offering accessible, nutritious food and essential supplies at reduced prices to help alleviate the financial strain on local households. Each larder emphasises fresh fruit and vegetables, aiming to counter the trend of low produce consumption among low-income families |
| Growing Together | £21,795 | Growing Together Northampton - Community Outreach and support | Support a region of 300 households living in hardship. Distribute crisis support, improve emergency access to food in and around Blackthorn in the summer, ensure children are given meaningful activities over the summer holidays to prevent pressures on families, and to be an access point for struggling families |
| Happy to Help CIC | £10,000 | Batch & Freeze | Provision of kitchen appliances |
| Home Start Northampton | £14,606 | Support To Families With Young Children | Supporting vulnerable families with young children in Northampton, with essential items and wrap-around support to build resilience to increased costs in living and to ensure children have the essentials that they need. Ensure families have access to essential white goods and house safety items, improve budgeting understanding and skills |
| Impact Now | £26,775 | Crisis Support for Vulnerable Households in Northampton | Providing essential support to vulnerable households making sure they have access to necessary resources during times of crisis. Food delivery network that also supply wider essentials. Mental health support services to address the mental health crisis affecting the community members |
| Moulton Community CIO | £5,360 | Moulton Community Larder Summer Support Scheme | Provision of comprehensive meal plans for most vulnerable residents, as well as food support throughout the school holidays. Larder membership for households in hardship and cooking classes |
| Northampton Hope Centre | £80,456.25 | Hope in the Community | Supporting homeless, hungry and people living in hardship. Providing food aid and essential toiletries and cleaning products. Food parcels, food clubs and larder memberships for those needing crisis support. Energy saving support for those in hardship |
| Northampton Life Chapel | £22,125 | Northampton Crisis Prevention and Aid | Supporting immigrant families with household items and energy saving |
| Peak Empower | £6,370 | Schools Out Support Programme (SOS) | Provision of support to families over the holiday periods. Alleviate some of the financial pressures on families who have children with additional needs by providing activities and games to play which are inclusive and meet individual needs. Ensure that families who participate in this programme have specialised lunch packs provided to them which cater to their specific dietary requirements |
| Ramgharia Board Northampton | £7,000 | RBN Foodbank | Foodbank supporting families facing food poverty. |
| Restore Northampton | £29,720 | Northampton Foodbank and Growbaby | Food provision and baby essentials. Providing a hand up by seeking to support their guests in a welcoming space, building relationships and a sense of community. Growbaby project provides essential items such as nappies, clothes and larger items when possible |
| Right Resolution CIC | £36,960 | Care Leavers Household Support Project | Meet the cost of living challenges and hardships experienced by care leavers. Distribution of essential basic food and household packages/ items. The access to vital goods will allow Care Leavers to save money, budget better and ultimately cook for themselves with limited energy usage |
| Salifu Dagarti Foundation | £10,867.50 | Hewale Pilot Project | Provide workshops and support to demographics including African Heritage, Immigrants, Disabled and those leaving the Criminal Justice System |
| Shine Development Concept CIC | £21,000 | BAME COMMUNITY SUPPORT | Address the food poverty amongst Black African communities in Northampton. Providing food parcels and breakfast club to provide healthy cooked breakfast at very low cost |
| South Northants Volunteer Bureau | £77,595 | Towcester & Roade Community Food Larders /Community Connect (welfare and wellbeing) | Ensure that affordable food reaches people that need it, providing a dedicated, hardship facility to make sure that people who cannot afford the weekly shop receive essential food supplies. To support vulnerable households with food, and support which offers an immediate impact to those in need. Work with Towcester Primary School to ensure families are able to access fresh healthy food. |
| St David’s food bank and community cafe | £12,100 | Food bank/community cafe | Provide food support for families during the school holidays |
| St James - 3 Pillars | £8,430 | St James - 3 pillars - outreaching to the vulnerable | Provide delivered food for vulnerable people that are currently unable to attend their services |
| The Lewis Foundation | £3,888 | Spread The Love – Free Gift Packs for adult cancer patients | To provide our free gift packs and support to adult cancer patients in all cancer wards in Northampton General Hospital |
| The McCarthy-Dixon Foundation | £100,000 | TMDF Wrap-Around Support for West Northamptonshire Households in Crisis | Providing a comprehensive offer ensuring everyone they support is able to attain an improved standard of living/ access to basic essentials. Provide support for various needs such as clothing, furniture and household appliances |
| The Spring Charity | £6,457.50 | The Spring Charity Non-Food Household Bank | Supporting women with hygiene poverty as well as wrap around support to develop skills to return to work. Working alongside those in crisis to provide a safety net that might not be there |
| Towcester Food Bank | £4,000 | Household Essentials | Household essentials bags and larder membership |
| Trilogy Active | £26,000 | Care Leavers Wellbeing Project | Aims to engage 100 care leavers in Northampton (aged 16+) and promote mental and physical health and wellbeing and a sense of community by offering free membership at our leisure facilities |
| United African Association | £28,166.00 | African community support | Foodbank funding, wider wrap around support services assisting with problems affecting people in the community and provide children with clothing |
Support with food
The Household Support Fund has also provided monies to members of the Food Aid Alliance West Northants (FAAWN). Find your nearest Food Bank or Community Larder on the FAAWN website.
Households requiring debt and money advice
The Debt and Money Advice Team can offer:
- support with debt options and negotiating payment arrangements
- money management and budgeting advice
- help with maximising income including benefits entitlement checks
- completing welfare benefit claim forms and support with appeals
- referrals to partners for further holistic support that compliments the financial support provided
- support in gaining confidence in managing finances through self help tools
If you are a Housing Association tenant and require debt and money advice support, please refer to your Housing Association provider for further assistance.
You can request debt and money advice online by submitting a referral form:
Households requiring energy saving advice
Households can also access support with energy saving advice. This service is provided by our partners at Community Law who specialise in this form of support.
Last updated 16 September 2024