Hardship Fund

We are reviewing our Hardship Fund and how the fund can be used to support customers. Please complete our short survey below, your feedback will help shape how our Hardship Funds are allocated.

What is the Hardship Fund?

We have a small Hardship Fund to support Citizen customers who are in financial difficulty, or crisis. It can also be used to assist customers’ to access training or secure employment.

Why are we reviewing the fund?

Our Money Advisors have found it is increasingly difficult to secure funds from external sources to assist Citizen customers. Charity budget cuts and stricter eligibility requirements, has meant funding for essential items is more of a challenge to secure.

Recognising these challenges, we are reviewing how best to allocate our Hardship Fund to better assist our customers.

Who can qualify?

  • Citizen customers living in a property owned (or part owned) by Citizen
  • Citizen customer who does not have savings or income that can be relied upon to meet the urgent need to which they are presenting
  • Any customer who meets the eligibility criteria irrespective of their immigration status
  • Any customer who has already exhausted requests by other means such as fuel suppliers, local authority, charities or the Department of Work and Pensions
  • The customer must be engaging with the Money Advice Team
  • The application must be made by a Citizen staff member on behalf of the customer

Hardship Fund current allocations

The Hardship Fund is currently used to support customers in the following ways:

  • Food purchase
  • Top up energy meters
  • Support with employment coaching and accessing employment, education or training opportunities
  • Support with back-to-school costs i.e., uniform, shoes, coat, etc (list is not exhaustive). (This will be used when local funding opportunities have been exhausted, proof of which will need to be provided with the application)

We are reviewing our Hardship Fund and how the fund can be used to support customers. Please complete our short survey below, your feedback will help shape how our Hardship Funds are allocated.

What is the Hardship Fund?

We have a small Hardship Fund to support Citizen customers who are in financial difficulty, or crisis. It can also be used to assist customers’ to access training or secure employment.

Why are we reviewing the fund?

Our Money Advisors have found it is increasingly difficult to secure funds from external sources to assist Citizen customers. Charity budget cuts and stricter eligibility requirements, has meant funding for essential items is more of a challenge to secure.

Recognising these challenges, we are reviewing how best to allocate our Hardship Fund to better assist our customers.

Who can qualify?

  • Citizen customers living in a property owned (or part owned) by Citizen
  • Citizen customer who does not have savings or income that can be relied upon to meet the urgent need to which they are presenting
  • Any customer who meets the eligibility criteria irrespective of their immigration status
  • Any customer who has already exhausted requests by other means such as fuel suppliers, local authority, charities or the Department of Work and Pensions
  • The customer must be engaging with the Money Advice Team
  • The application must be made by a Citizen staff member on behalf of the customer

Hardship Fund current allocations

The Hardship Fund is currently used to support customers in the following ways:

  • Food purchase
  • Top up energy meters
  • Support with employment coaching and accessing employment, education or training opportunities
  • Support with back-to-school costs i.e., uniform, shoes, coat, etc (list is not exhaustive). (This will be used when local funding opportunities have been exhausted, proof of which will need to be provided with the application)
  • This survey is being carried out by Citizen, in line with the UK GDPR Data Protection Act 2018. The data controller is Citizen. The information collected in this survey will be used to shape the Hardship Fund. All information produced will be anonymised. An external data processor stores your personal data on servers in the United Kingdom and they give an undertaking never to disclose the survey questions or your responses to others without permission. By completing this survey you are agreeing to our privacy terms and conditions. More information on how we handle personal information and your rights under the Data Protection legislation can be found in our privacy notice Citizen | Privacy (citizenhousing.org.uk) Please click on 'How we use your information' and the 'Housing customers privacy notice' link.

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