More Support For Swale’s Vulnerable Residents

People struggling to feed their families and pay their bills could be eligible for more support this winter.

Swale Borough Council has received more than £250,000 from Kent County Council’s (KCC) Household Support Fund to help households access food boxes, get vouchers to pay their electric, gas and water bills, and purchase the items needed to keep warm.

The money has been allocated to organisations within the local community who have been on the ground helping people navigate the cost of living crisis.

Swale Food Bank and Children and Families will be delivering emergency food parcels, West Faversham Community Association will be providing meals to the young people visiting their youth hub and Age UK will be delivering hot meals and shopping to pensioners.

The council’s fuel and water home advisor and Citizens Advice Swale will be providing Fuel Bank Foundation fuel vouchers to people with pre-paid meters, and Children and Families will be providing Mastercard vouchers for people with billed utility accounts.

People can also request help with items that will help keep them warm this winter such as water bottles, blankets, and draft excluders from the council’s fuel and water housing advisor.

Cllr Richard Palmer, chair of the community committee at Swale Borough Council, told SFM News: “We’ve received more than £250,000 from KCC’s household support fund this time around. We received money from the first round this summer, and used it support almost 8,000 households around Swale. Unfortunately, we haven’t received as much money as we did in the first round, but the criteria for who we can help has been relaxed this time, so we hope to be able to reach the households that weren’t eligible last time.”

Cllr Elliott Jayes, vice chair of the community committee at the council, told SFM News: “Alongside helping with energy bills, we can also help residents with the cost of hot water bottles, blankets, and draft excluders. The funding is available until March, so anyone struggling to feed their family or keep their home warm this winter can contact us for support.”

To find the right support for you visit the Swale Borough Council website via this link: www.swale.gov.uk/hsf.