Vulnerable households supported

Published Monday 17 October, 2022
Last updated on Monday 24 October, 2022

Almost 8,000 households in Swale have received help from local community groups to pay their energy bills and feed their families.

Swale Borough Council received almost £500,000 from the Government’s household support fund to help vulnerable pensioners and families in Swale.

The money was distributed to local organisations, community groups and charities to deliver food parcels, fuel vouchers and digital Mastercard’s to residents.

The council is expecting more funding in the coming months to help support residents this winter.

A total of 7,797 households were supported with:

• 1,287 food parcels
• 2,033 hot meals to pensioners
• 250 Mastercard vouchers of £100 for utility bills
• 493 fuel vouchers for pre-paid fuel meters
• 3,734 one-off £87 payments to pensioners on council tax support

Cllr Richard Palmer, chair of the community committee at the council, said:

“We’ve helped almost 8,000 Swale households to pay their energy bills and feed their families since we received the Government funding in July.

“We teamed up with Swale Food Bank, Children and Families, West Faversham Community, Diversity House, Age UK and our Fuel and water home advisor to deliver food parcels and hot meals, pre-paid fuel vouchers for meters and £100 Mastercard vouchers for fuel bills.

“The community groups that have been on the ground everyday have done a phenomenal job delivering support to the vulnerable households in Swale, and I want to thank them for all their hard work and dedication, we couldn’t have reached so many people in such a short space of time without them.”

Cllr Elliott Jayes, vice chair of the community committee at the council, said:

“This round of Government funding has been a real lifeline for some households.

“We were allocated almost £500,000 to help support vulnerable families and pensioners in Swale, and now that this round of funding is complete, we’re hoping to find out what we’ll be allocated and what the criteria will be in the next round.

“We think it will focus heavily on families in fuel poverty, and we again plan to work with the people on the ground who are helping the people who need it most.

“With the cost of living and fuel costs continuing to rise, more help is desperately needed from the Government to support our most vulnerable households.”

For more information on how to find support visit www.swale.gov.uk/hsfe.

Notes to editor

• Swale Food Bank, Children and Families, and West Faversham Community Association delivered emergency food parcels
• Age UK delivered hot meals to pensioners
• Fuel Bank Foundation provided fuel vouchers to people with pre-paid meters
• Mastercard vouchers provided fuel vouchers to people with billed utility accounts
• Swale Council made one-off payments of £87 to pensioners claiming council tax support