Where to go if you’re unable to afford food

We know that now more than ever, more people are finding it harder to balance their household finances, and afford food. This can have a wide range of impacts on households and families. So we’ve compiled some ways that you can get help, both locally, and nationally. 

Household Support Fund

The government announced a Household Support Fund (HSF). This has been provided to councils to support those most in need with food, prepay energy and other essential items.

Am I eligible?

• The Fund aims to support Southampton residents who are on a low income and facing financial hardship.

More information about the fund can be found in the Government Household Support Fund announcement.

National Government Support

Like thousands of others over the last few months, your circumstances may have recently changed. If you or someone in your household have lost their job, you’ve had a decrease to your income, you now have someone dependant on you or even if nothings changed, you may be eligible to Government support.

You may be able to get Universal Credit if: 

• You’re on a low income or out of work 

• You’re 18 or over (they’re some exceptions if you’re 16 or 17) 

• You’re under State Pension age (or if your partner is) 

• You and your partner have £16,000 or less in savings between you 

• You live in the UK 

Full information on eligibility is here: https://www.gov.uk/universal-credit/eligibility

And you can apply for Universal Credit here: https://www.gov.uk/apply-universal-credit 

If you have school aged children, it may also be worth checking your eligibility for Free School Meals. You can apply direct here, or read more about the scheme in our blog post here.

Local Government Support 

If you’re local to us, Southampton City Council have provided some resources for people in a crisis, and ways to access some local support here: https://www.southampton.gov.uk/benefits-welfare/benefits-advice/benefit-changes/support--crisis.aspx 

Local Charity Support 

At City Catering, we have recently launched our Cooking at Home project, that aims to support and guide people to prepare low-cost and healthy family meals. You can explore what support is on offer here. 

Scratch are local charity, supporting those in need. They operate a ‘Welfare Information Line’ for anyone to ring and chat through your challenges and help identify relevant support specific to you. They can also help make referrals to food banks if needed. 

For more information and to contact them see here: https://www.scratchcharity.co.uk/ 

The Southampton Welfare Information Line can be contacted on: 023 8001 0883 and is open Monday to Friday, 10 am - 12:30 pm and 1:30 pm - 4pm.

Southampton City Mission run the local food and clothing banks to provide support to people in need. You can access their support through a referral from organisations such as Scratch, schools, or NHS departments, as examples. You can find out about the support offered here https://southamptoncitymission.co.uk/basics-banks/get-food-clothing

National Charity Support 

Citizens Advice is there to support anyone, helping people feel more confident and knowledgeable about their individual circumstances. They are able to assist with a whole host of areas such as, debt and money management. Universal Credit will also help signpost you to other support services where appropriate. You can find lots of information about accessing help from Citizens Advice online here: https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/or through the local support office here: https://citizensadvicesouthampton.org.uk/. 

Shelter are a brilliant charity that provide a range of signpost links and guidance for those needing financial support in a crisis. Some of it we have covered here, like Universal Credit or Free School Meals - but depending on where you live, this can be a useful site to start with. They have also recently updated their site with new information following the Coronavirus pandemic: https://england.shelter.org.uk/housing_advice/money_problems_and_energy_costs/cash_in_a_crisis 

Step Change are another national charity, that details a broad range of options for those struggling financially. See the following website via the link here: https://www.stepchange.org/debt-info/emergency-funding.aspx for lots of ideas and resources to help. 

Your existing networks

If you have children, your school can be a great place to speak to as they often have links with local support networks, charities, volunteer groups and faith based projects that can provide assistance to their local community. It is also worth speaking to your child's teacher, a family link worker, or a member of the admin team for local guidance and signposting. 

Your Health Visiting team can also be a useful place to discuss your individual needs, and be able to provide you with general diet and wellbeing support that may assist you. They will also be able to provide some onward signposting should you both feel it would be helpful.

Your local place of worship will often have support services, volunteers or the ability to signpost alternative support services locally. They can be a good place to start to understand what is available, especially if you don’t have networks via a school - you do not necessarily need to practice their faith or attend, as often their priority will be in support the individuals within their local community .