Croydon Council will be helping thousands more vulnerable households to cope with soaring costs of food and energy bills through a new £6m Household Support Fund.
The £6m is the fourth tranche of Household Support Fund from the Department of Work and Pensions to be allocated to Croydon residents.
This means the Council will have distributed £15m and reached more than 88,449 people to assist with essential costs, such as food, water bills, electric and gas meter top ups, since 2021.
Croydon will be working closely with schools, health and wellbeing practitioners and voluntary and community sector organisations over the next 12 months to deliver targeted funding to those most in need, ensuring it reaches the maximum number of people possible. This includes tackling holiday hunger among school children by providing meal vouchers.
The Council aims to reach residents who may have missed out on other cost of living support and have not previously been helped through the Housing Support Fund.
The fund is now open for applications and will be allocated on a discretionary basis. Applications are open to a wide range of low-income households needing urgent support.
More information, including criteria for eligibility and how to apply, can be found on the Household Support Fund page of the Council website.
The Council allocated £3m of funding between October last year and March, assisting 1,185 households with energy and water bills, 1,100 with food costs and distributing meal vouchers to more than 21,467 school pupils during the school holidays.
“Through this ongoing Government support, the Council has designed a targeted support package to reach the maximum number of people who are struggling to get on top of their essential household bills.
“From helping families put food on the table to assisting pensioners with their energy bills, our Council services and partner organisations will ensure we are reaching those most in need to get the most from this £6m of vital funding.”
Jason Perry, Executive Mayor of Croydon