Oldham Household Support Fund 5 Cost of Living Crisis

Oldham Council is working with Action Together to launch Phase 5 of the Household Support Fund.

The purpose of this fund is to provide a flexible cash first fund which can meet emergency needs for residents before financial challenges escalate. It is aimed at those from communities and in situations where offers from the existing structured system are less trusted, accessible or appropriate. As well as reducing the impact of the cost of living crisis for these residents who already face greater inequality, this will have the added benefit of building trust for future initiatives to work better and reducing the likelihood of those communities needing more expensive interventions further down the line.

Fund Priorities

This Fund will invest directly in Voluntary, Community, Faith and Social Enterprise (VCFSE) groups and organisations who are working closely with individuals and households in Oldham who are at risk of crisis due to the adverse impact of the cost-of-living crisis, including but not limited to the following communities:

• Older adults,
• Communities who experience racial inequalities,
• People experiencing multiple disadvantage (e.g. a combination of substance misuse, poor mental health, history of offending etc.),
• People with no recourse to public funds,
• People with disabilities and learning disabilities,
• Low-income households,

to provide support with the following:

• emergency food – and especially culturally appropriate (cash, vouchers and/or food items directly),
• emergency energy or water bills / costs / oil filled radiators / electric blankets etc.,
• warm clothing and shoes
• school uniforms,
• household furniture and white goods,
• household essentials items (e.g. bedding, toiletries, baby related items etc),
• emergency non-energy related household bills (e.g. phone credit/data etc),
• transport costs (e.g. bus passes to attend medical or public service appointments).

The summer holidays can be a particularly challenging time for many families and Oldham Council are particularly keen to see support around the provision of school uniforms.