The fund will continue to provide free school meals holiday vouchers during the remaining 2024/25 academic year. For children in receipt of eligible benefits-related FSM on roll in Shropshire schools and children in receipt of 24U funding and Early Years Pupil Premium in early years settings.

If you’re on a low income and you think you could be eligible for free school meals, please visit our free school meals pages.

• Tenbury NILS Scheme provide residents in financial need with a grant to help with essential household items.
• Community Resource provide residents in financial need with a one-off hardship grant payment.
• Marches Energy Agency (MEA) – will be providing winter warmth grant for vulnerable individuals living in a cold house.
• Welfare support team  Shropshire Council’s welfare support team offers support to low income and vulnerable households in need with food, energy, and water bills, and with other essential living costs.
• Affordable warmth and energy efficiency offers support to residents through Keep Shropshire Warm energy advice and support service, Help-to-Heat vouchers to qualifying households and those in sustained energy arrears, and discretionary grants (criteria applies).

A £100 payment to care leavers.

A £300 targeted payment to pensioner households on low incomes who are in receipt of council tax support and/or housing benefit but not pension credit (criteria applies). 

The application window for this payment has now closed and we are in the process of collating all the eligible applications submitted. 

It is expected that payments will be made to the designated bank accounts or onto the eligible household Council Tax account by no later than the 24 February 2025.

Grant funding opportunities will be made available to community-run Warm Hubs, administered by the Marches Energy Agency. Community Organisations can find out more about the funding opportunities and submit an expression of interest to warmhubs@mea.org.uk

Shropshire Council Community & Family Hubs providing support, advice, and a safe & warm space.

This includes:

• Keep Shropshire Warm Energy Advice and Support Service
• Help-to-heat vouchers to qualifying households and those in sustained energy arrears.
• Discretionary grants provided to support applications to Sustainable Warmth Shropshire programme for necessary ancillary/enabling works

On average, for every £1 spent with the household support funding, an additional £4 can then be accessed through the other government funds to carry out much-needed improvements to the homes of vulnerable Shropshire residents.

If you’re on a low income and you think you could be eligible for help with energy costs and grants for home improvements to help reduce energy costs please visit our affordable warmth and energy efficiency pages.

Shropshire Council’s Welfare Support Team offers support to low income and vulnerable households in need. Households can apply for help with food, energy and water bills, and with other essential living costs. For more information, and to find out how to apply, please visit our Welfare Support Fund team page.

These provide support to meet the emergency need of vulnerable households in financial distress or hardship to meet the cost of unaffordable essentials. This includes energy bills, white goods, (cookers, washing machines and fridge/freezers) and energy efficiencies to help with reducing future energy costs.

Please note that all applications must be referred by a third-party organisation.

• The Tenbury NILS Scheme provides residents in financial need with a grant to help with essential household items
• Community Resource provides residents in financial need with a one-off hardship grant payment between £50 - £500 to help keep their home warm