Hall Green Families has worked closely with local schools and community organisations to apply for over 4000 Household Support Fund grants for those most in need this winter.
The Department of Work and Pensions allocated Household Support Funds to Birmingham to help those facing financial hardship through the winter. Through a partnership between Birmingham City Council, BVSC, Early Help locality leads such as Hall Green Families and a network of trusted partners, thousands of hardship grants of up to £150 have been made between 21st December and 2nd March. These funds have supported households in the most need with food, energy and water bills and wider essential costs.
Our Neighbourhood Hubs, trusted partners, and schools have worked tirelessly to apply for Household Support Fund grants. At the same time, they have provided and/or signposted households to a wide range of additional support. This has resulted in households connecting with local groups that can offer social, mental, physical and financial support activities!
Local neighbourhood hubs commissioned through Hall Green Families to support local citizens access grants include Highfield Hall, Bahu Trust, Moseley CDT and Smart Citizen. They have offered inclusive financial support surgeries and contact points for older adults and households who couldn’t access support through education or family health services. These hubs have been a highly effective and accessible means for many households to seek support close to home.
Moseley Community Development Trust, one of our four Neighbourhood Hubs, supporting Household Support Fund applicants in Moseley and Kings Heath, highlight the wider support they have been able to offer:
“On Mondays we run the HSF drop in alongside our ‘Community Living Room’ where anyone is welcome to pop in for a cuppa and chat with others. As a result of the HSF drop in we have had several people stay and return in future weeks to join the Community Living Room. We have signposted a bunch of people to Riverside Money Advice and have also supported several people in applying for free bus passes amongst other things.
We met with an applicant that was working part time and receiving housing benefit which only covered part of their housing costs. He was struggling financially with essential costs. He hadn’t eaten in several days, and after meeting with him, we were able to direct him to services including Incredible Surplus for food. He informed us that he had not had gas for two months and the gas metre was showing an error message. His credit was running out on his phone constantly as he was on hold to speak to supplier. This meant he had been using high-cost electric heaters to help heat his flat. We arranged for the gentlemen to come back the next day and use our facilities to call the energy supplier. He managed to finally get through, got an appointment and now has his gas metre working! This man wasn’t aware this kind of support was available to someone in work.”
Lorna – Moseley Community Development Trust
Highfield Hall, another one of our Neighbourhood Hubs, covering Hall Green said:
“We have helped over 300 families to access this fund and have also been signposting individuals to other support and services. […] HSF has given us more visibility and footfall, enhancing our reach and the work we do. We are seeing some people now coming to us for other services we offer.”
Robina – Highfield Hall
The team here at Hall Green Families would like to say a huge thank you to all of our Neighbourhood Hubs for all of their tireless work in supporting families and individuals access the Household Support Fund. They are pillars of the communities in which they serve and we a proud to work alongside them!
Slingshot