NEWS | Herefordshire Council to provide further financial support to vulnerable residents

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Herefordshire Council has accepted a further grant from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) to provide support to vulnerable households this winter.

The DWP Household Support Fund grant of £1,329,602 will be used to support Herefordshire households most in need, up until the end of March 2023; particularly those who may not be eligible for the other forms of support the government has recently made available, but are still struggling due to the increased cost of living.

The funding will help vulnerable residents with rising food and energy bills and other essential household items, and it includes emergency support for individuals and families where needed.

The grant will also be used to provide food vouchers during the school holidays for children entitled to free school meals. 

The council continues to work with a number of partner organisations to directly provide the support to vulnerable residents who are most in need of financial help.

Residents are advised to visit Talk Community’s Money on your Mind webpages, run by the council for more information. The site has useful advice and tips on how to manage your money and where to go for further support. It also provides information about local organisations that may be able to help with food and energy bills and essential household items.

Councillor Liz Harvey, Cabinet Member for Finance, said:

“We are really pleased to receive a further grant from the DWP and I’m particularly glad to see that the Department has given us more discretion to decide locally what people’s priorities are for support. Many of our residents have already benefited from the first round of funding, which was more constrained, and we will work with our partners to ensure this further support will be able to be even more effective in reaching the most vulnerable members of our communities before they reach crisis point.”

People can find out more information on the Herefordshire Household Support Fund by visiting the council’s website www.herefordshire.gov.uk/household-support-grant.

The webpage includes information on how to apply for emergency support.