Cost of living support
Household
Support Fund
LATEST UPDATE:1st April 2025
Household Support Fund – Round 6
Please be advised that the Hardship Grant Community Fund scheme is now closed to new enquiries.
If you have already completed the enquiry form, and you have received an email confirming it has been Approved, you will have secured your place on the waiting list. You will be contacted by a member of the HSF team, within the next 6-8 weeks, to complete your full application.
Please be patient whilst the team, work through the waiting list. Additionally, please ensure that you have your voicemail turned on, so the team can leave you a message if you miss your call, and that your phone accepts calls from withheld/private numbers.
Please note that completing the enquiry form does not mean that you are automatically entitled to receive a grant payment. Your eligibility will be checked during the application process and you may be required to submit further documents, to verify the details you have supplied as part of your application, before any grant payment is made.
Please be advised that enquiries will reopen in June 2025. If you are not currently on the waiting list, and it has now been 12 months since your household last received a grant payment, you will be able to submit a new enquiry once the scheme reopens in June 2025.
About the Fund
The Household Support Fund, provided by the Department for Work and Pensions, is a fixed amount of money available to the Local Authority to be used to support those households in most need, with essentials such as food, energy and essential goods and supplies including water.
Receiving a grant from this fund will not impact on any other benefits you may be receiving or may be entitled to. You can find out about what financial support you may be eligible to claim using the Government’s Benefits Calculator. If you have reached retirement age, you can use the Government’s Pension Credit Calculator to find out about your entitlement.
This grant is free at the point of access, under no circumstances should you be required to pay a fee to apply for or to receive a grant from the Hardship Grant Community Fund.
What additional support is available?
You can find more information and resources on BCC’s Cost of Living Support Page and on the Government’s Cost of Living Hub.
You can also find out about what other support may be available for you, as well as finding out useful tips for saving money on the Help for Households campaign page.
Hardship Grant Community Fund
Birmingham Voluntary Service Council (BVSC) will distribute grants of up to £200 to Birmingham households currently facing financial hardship, with the funds intended to help households with food costs and energy payments.
Who is eligible?
- You must be a Birmingham Resident
- You must be experiencing financial hardship, particularly with regards to covering costs linked to food and energy
- Your household must not have received a £200 grant payment in the last 12 months*
*Please be aware that you may be expected to provide proof of address and proof of means-tested benefits (if you are in receipt of them) in the case that you are invited to apply.
You may be required to provide proof of address and/or proof of means-tested benefits (if you are in receipt of them) in the case that you are invited to apply.
How to Apply
Website
To apply, potential applicants must complete the enquiry form below, answering questions aimed at determining their suitability for a grant payment. All applicants will be contacted via email regarding the outcome of their enquiry and the next steps.
Alternatively, please scan the QR code, with your mobile phone or tablet camera to open the link and then click on the Enquiry Form tab.
Telephone
If you are unable to access the website above, then please use the phone number provided below to progress your enquiry.
0121 634 7100
Please be aware that your enquiry will be processed quicker if you use the form, so we strongly encourage you to do so if you are able to.
Support from Gateway FS
In October 2021 the Government announced the Household Support Fund, a £500m fund for people in England who were likely to suffer food or fuel poverty over the winter.
In Birmingham, the City Council decided to distribute its share of the money directly to households in need. To do this, they chose ten voluntary sector organisations – one in each constituency – to administer the funds. In light of our existing role as Early Help and Neighbourhood Network Lead, Gateway Family Services was chosen to cover the Edgbaston constituency.
So, in the week after Christmas 2021, we put together the Household Support Fund Admin Team……..
