Council Supports Struggling Families with Energy Vouchers and Grants for Warm Clothing and Food
- Energy vouchers have again been sent to families in Reading struggling with soaring bills
- The Council is also distributing grants to local voluntary and community groups to help vulnerable residents with food and warm clothes this winter
ENERGY vouchers have again been distributed by the Council to families struggling with soaring bills, alongside grants for voluntary organisations to supply food and warm winter clothing for vulnerable people and children.
The £49 vouchers are part of a targeted scheme for families with school aged children eligible for Pupil Premium free school meals, vulnerable children up to nursery age and care leavers. The scheme is provided from remaining funding from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) Household Support Fund.
The vouchers are limited to one per family / care leaver and the Council has contacted eligible residents directly with them.
Reading Borough Council will use the remainder of the funding on a range of grants to local voluntary and community sector organisations to help with food for vulnerable families and individuals in Reading, and winter clothing for children and young people.
Food support grants will be provided to:
- Readifood inc Norcot Pantry (£20,000)
- Whitley Community Development Association (£7,500)
- Weller Centre (£7,500)
- New Beginnings (£7,500)
- CIRDIC (£5,000)
- Sadaka (£5,000)
Winter clothing grants for children and young people will be distributed as follows:
- New Beginnings (£3,000)
- Whitley Community Development Association (£3,000)
- Weller Centre (£3,000)
- First Days (£3,000)
- Sadaka (£3,000)
A £10,000 grant will go to The Cowshed for Winter clothing and warmth support (including for carers, people with disabilities and the homeless) and a £5,000 grant will be awarded to Reading Refugee Support Group for winter clothing and food support for refugees.
Reading Council Leader Jason Brock said:
"It continues to be an extremely worrying time for families and individuals across Reading, with winter around the corner and absolutely no sign of the cost of heating homes or food coming down anytime soon.
“It is almost inconceivable that in 2022 we are talking about the need to help provide warm winter clothing and food to desperate families and individuals. It seems to me a policy more suited for the 19th century than the 21st, but in some cases this is the harsh reality when wages are very far from keeping up with soaring rates of inflation.
“The Council has made full use of an underspend in its Household Support Fund Scheme to once again distribute energy vouchers to those that need them the most in our town. We are working on the details for the next phase of the Household Support Fund, which will enable us to continue supporting families in Reading through the coming winter. We will announce details of that scheme as soon as we are able.
“Funding will also be used to provide grants to local organisations in Reading for winter clothing and food supplies for people who are struggling and I would like to thank those organisations for stepping up once again in these difficult times.”
Funding for the scheme is through the Household Support Fund, previously known as the Covid Local Support Grant and the Covid Winter Grant Scheme. The overall funding amount allocated to the Council by the Department for Work and Pensions was £1,130,648.94.
The Decision Book relating to this phase of the Household Support Fund can be found at https://democracy.reading.gov.uk/documents/s23758/Household%20Support%20Fund%20Extension%20-%20Phase%202.pdf