Help with cost of living
We understand that many residents are facing a cost of living crisis with rising bills, if you’re worried about affording payments, managing debt and looking after you and your family’s wellbeing – there is support available.
If you receive Universal Credit or other benefits, you could be eligible for a social
broadband tariff and save up to £144 a year on your broadband bills. Full details on eligibility and the deals available can be found on the Essex county council website.
Universal Credit is a payment to help with your living costs. It’s paid monthly. You may be able to get Universal Credit if you’re on a low income or need help with your
living costs. You could be working (including self-employed or part time) or be out of
work. To claim you must: You can use a benefits calculator to check what benefits you could get. For information on income-related benefits, contribution-based benefits, Universal Credit, tax credits, Council Tax Reduction and Carer’s Allowance use: You can also check with a local benefits adviser to find out what you could be entitled to. Anyone can apply for this funding. You will need to answer questions about your income,
earnings and savings. You also need to give proof of your financial situation. The Essential Living Fund can help pay for: The Essex Essential Living Fund has replaced Crisis Loans and Community Care Grants. You must live in Essex and apply through Southend Borough Council. Braintree District Council are assisting Essex County Council (ECC) with distributing the
£80 payment to eligible pensioners to support with rising living costs, for those we
already have bank details for. This will be automatically paid into their bank account
by 30 September 2022. ECC will be dealing with those who we do not have bank details for
and will be issuing an £80 supermarket voucher directly by post to those eligible over
the coming weeks. Read the latest details from Essex County Council. For information about grants, funding and support to help with paying energy and utility
bills, please visit our Energy Efficient Homes
page. If you need extra financial help with your housing costs you can apply for a
Discretionary Housing Payment. You must be in receipt of either Housing Benefit or
Universal Credit that includes a housing element to apply. Find out more information
and apply for discretionary housing benefit. Most benefits can be paid early. This is known as a 'short term benefit advance'. You might be able to get your benefit paid early if: A small amount will be taken off future payments to pay it back - usually for 12 weeks.
You can’t get a benefit paid early for: To ask for an advance, contact the DWP office that's dealing with your benefit claim. You
can find their contact details on any letter or email you’ve had from them. You can apply for Council Tax support if you’re: How much Council Tax support you might get depends on: If you have savings and investments totalling more than £16,000 (apart from some
pensioners on Guarantee Pension Credit) you are not likely to get Council Tax support.
Find out more aboutCouncil Tax
Support. You could get extra money to help with your living costs if you’re over State Pension age
and on a low income, even if you have savings or own your own home. If you’re struggling to pay for food, you might be able to qualify for food vouchers. You’ll usually need a referral to access the food bank which can be obtained from
Citizen’s Advice or another organisation currently supporting you such as our Housing or
Benefits teams. The following food banks are located in the district: Offices are manned by volunteers and days/times may vary. Please call before you come so
that your journey is not wasted. Free school meals are available to pupils in England if parents get certain benefits. Check if your child
can get free school meals. The National School Breakfast Programme (NSBP) is funded by the Department for Education
and delivered by Family Action to support schools in England to provide children with a
healthy breakfast at the start of the school day. All participating schools will receive a 100% subsidy for breakfast club provision until
the end of July 2022. Free breakfast provision has been extended beyond April 2022
enabling schools to receive free food until the end of the July 2022. This means that
any school signing up to the programme now can still benefit from up to two terms worth
of free food. Schools will then be asked to contribute just 25% towards the supply and
delivery of breakfast food from September 2022 to July 2023. Find out more about the National School Breakfast Programme. Essex ActivAte is the name for the Holiday Activity and Food (#HAF2022) programme across
Essex, run by Active Essex, Essex County Council and Thurrock Council, on behalf of the
Department for Education. Additional funding is provided by Essex County Council to
extend the offer to low income working families who also require support during the
school holidays. This programme takes place during the Easter, summer and winter
holidays. The programme aims to support the physical and mental wellbeing of primary and secondary
school children, through engagement in a wide variety of activities, and provision of a
nutritious, school standard meal. Working with a network of trusted local delivery partners, Active Essex run these FREE
face to face clubs during the school holidays for children and young people who are
eligible for benefits based free school meals, as well as those from low income working
families who would benefit from this extra support. We are also able to extend this
support to children and young people who may be vulnerable to inactivity or social
isolation, on a case by case basis, please speak to the club provider to discuss if this
is an option. Each Essex ActivAte club will deliver a variety of fun physical and enrichment
activities, fun food education and a nutritious meal. Alongside this you can access
family support and fun activities to keep children active and entertained at home. Check
out our Family Support page below to get started! Community fridges take surplus food from supermarkets and businesses for people to take
for free – helping to reduce food waste and provide fresh food to people who need it.
You don’t need to qualify to use it, you can simply help yourself, leaving something you
don’t need yourself or a donation towards the running costs if you can. The following community fridges are available in the area; If you're at least 10 weeks pregnant or have a child under 4 years old, you might be able
to get free vitamins and Healthy Start vouchers for milk, fruit and vegetables and
infant formula milk. To get the free vitamins and Healthy Start vouchers you must also be claiming either: If you get Child Tax Credit you can’t get the vitamins and vouchers if you also get
Working Tax Credit - unless you get the ‘run-on’ payment. Working Tax Credit run-on is
the payment you get for 4 weeks after you stop qualifying for Working Tax Credit. If you’re under 18 and pregnant, you can still get vitamins and food vouchers even if you
don’t get any of these benefits. Ask your midwife or health visitor for an application form. You can also call the Healthy
Start helpline on 0345 607 6823 and ask them to send you a form. Calls cost up to 9p a minute from landlines and up to 55p a minute from mobiles. It
should be free if you call from your mobile and have landline calls included in your
contract. Making a meal plan for the week can help you save money in the long run, only buying what
you need and helping you to stick to a list when going to the supermarket and reducing
return trips where you might buy more. Find advice on ways to lower your food bill at Money Saving Expert. The average family of four can save just over £60 per month by reducing their food waste.
For help and advice to eat better and waste less visit the Love Food Hate Waste website. You might be able to get what's called a 'budgeting loan' for essentials like clothing or
a washing machine if you claim certain benefits. You might be eligible if you get: The loan is interest-free, so you'll only have to pay back what you borrow. You'll
usually need to pay back the loan within 2 years. If you’re struggling to pay your essential living costs and can’t afford your repayments,
contact the DWP’s Debt Management contact centre. If you’re struggling to afford the cost of school uniform, your child’s school may be
able to help. Speak to them to see if they run any schemes such as a school uniform
exchange or provide grants towards uniform costs. Alternatively, you may find old uniforms in charity shops or via Pay it Forward Facebook
pages. You can get up to £500 every 3 months (up to £2,000 a year) for each of your children to
help with the cost of childcare. You may be able to claim back up to 85% of your childcare costs if you’re eligible for
Universal Credit, with up to £646 back each month for one child or £1,108 for 2 or more
children. Find out more about claiming back childcare costs. You could claim a one-off payment of £500 to help towards the costs of having a child.
Check if you're
eligible for the Sure Start Maternity Grant. Carousel Family Centre Braintree District are holding a free school uniform event on
Wednesday 10 August 2022 from 10am to 2pm at Carousel Family Hub, Chapel Hill,
Braintree, CM7 3QZ. No booking is required, you can just turn up on the day. Alternatively, Pre-orders for school uniform are also being taken- so you can just turn
up and grab your bag on Weds 10th August! Pre-orders must be sent in by Friday 5 August
2022 For pre-orders please email: info@uniform@dnanetworks.org In the email, please provide your name, contact number and send a list of the required
items (including the size, colour, school specifics and gender preference). Please send
as a list and separate out each child's needs one at a time. Most uniform items are
measured as ages (i.e. 5-6 years 7-8yrs etc) although some secondary aged items will
require a Chest and Waist size in inches. Uniform provided by Essex Free School Uniform. Low cost clothing can be bought from: Or you may be able to find a local clothing exchange or swap in your local area, or why
not organise one among friends or neighbours? Sometimes clothes or children’s clothes are listed on local Pay it Forward Facebook pages
too. If you need new or replacement household items, there are a number of websites where
people list items for free they no longer need. If you have an item that needs repairing, why not take it to a repair café? A Repair Café
runs at Cornerstone Church in Black Notley. Find more about Cornerstone
Church. Fuel duty for petrol and diesel has been cut by 5 pence per litre across the whole of the
UK until March 2023. It saves £100 for the average car driver. You can get up to a third off train fares with a railcard in Great Britain, saving up to
£142 a year on average. Save one
third on rail journeys with a railcard. You may be eligible for a Jobcentre Plus Travel Discount Card if you're on Universal
Credit. Find out more information on the National Rail website. In England you can get a bus pass for free travel when you reach the State Pension age.
Apply for
an older person's bus pass. If you’re disabled then you may be eligible for a disabled person’s pass if you live in
England.
Broadband savings
Universal Credit and other benefits
Essex Essential Living Fund
Household Support Fund
Help with energy bills
Discretionary Housing Payment (DHP)
Short term benefit advance
Council Tax Support
Food Banks
Essex ActivAte – Holiday Activity and Food
Community Fridges
Healthy Start Vouchers
Meal Planning and Food Budgeting
Love Food Hate Waste
Interest free loan for essentials
Help with child costs
Clothing
Household Items and other supplies
Transport costs