Extra funding has been awarded to the Isle of Wight Council to continue to provide crisis support to vulnerable households in most need. This is the 5th tranche of the government’s Household Support Fund (HSF) that the authority has received. The latest grant amounts to £1.1 million and will enable the council to provide support until September 2024. The sum boosts the Island’s total funding to more than £6.7 million since the fund’s launch. The funding is to support those struggling to afford household essentials such as food as well as energy and water bills. Councillor Debbie Andre, Cabinet member for adult social care and public health, said:
“I am very pleased that the HSF has been extended again for another six months as it will continue to provide crucial support to the most vulnerable local households during these challenging times. “As well as looking at how the council can distribute this fund, we have also recognised the expertise our local partners bring and provided them with funding to strengthen the delivery of their own services. By working together we have been able to do the best by local residents and make this funding as effective as it can be. “As we head into summer, high prices of food, energy and other essential household items continue to affect households, especially those on lowest incomes. This fund has been a lifeline for local residents, and this further round will ensure this vital support continues to be available for families and households who are struggling.”
The schemes that will be delivered across the Island as a result of the new funding include:
- Food vouchers — Up to two £25 food vouchers will be available to those in crisis with a one-off £25 food voucher for up to 10,000 households in receipt of Local Council Tax Support.
- Grant funding to Help Through Crisis to support people with utility bills, crisis food support and energy efficient white goods where the need is identified.
- A grant pot of £130,000 to be used to support and expand the network of community pantries across the Island.
- Community grants for charities, community organisations and town, parish and community councils to help meet needs within their local communities.
- The latest instalment of HSF follows the previous funding round from the Department for Work and Pensions which ran from April 2023 until March 2024.
During this time the council has been able to allocate the funding to 80 charities, community organisations and education providers to support more than 32,000 Isle of Wight households. This has included the provision of food hampers, hygiene hampers, heated blankets and support with transport costs as well as helping people with their utility bills and to improve energy efficiency reducing their household expenditure. For more information about available support on the Island, visit the council’s dedicated cost of living web pages.
Food vouchers will be swapped for tattooes and playstation games
Free CONTRACEPTION is what is NEEDED, but the last thing the spongers want.
For without their feral clones, no free rent , council tax, food, gym membership, dental care, prescriptions, uniforms and literally thousands a year in top ups IF they work 16 hours a week.
Hence the low life selfishly have children to provide a lazy lucrative life for them selves
Any evidence for your supposition?
Given the number of times you have proposed this ideology over the previous 12 months, one would assume you have ample evidence.
And Vapes and cigarettes
FFS – I think I will quit work and focus on accessing every charity, government pot, benefit and scrounger support I can find.
I think, If I blag mental illness and pretend to have a drink problem, I can get all sorts of benefits and never have to work again – bargain.
Give it a go and let us know how you get on.
My terminally ill neighbour was expecting a “hammock” as well. Died penniless and in debt as all he got was £83 a week (which didn’t even cover his utility bills).
This scheme I have used ,and the only tattoos I have are from serving in the army ,so the fool who made such stupid comments ,maybe we should meet at the veteran in ryde for a chat and I will happily show you my tattoos
and queue the clueless bell end comments from another so called “hard man”
If your army pension leaves you a bit short on cash, you should get a part-time job. Maybe stop spending all your money down the boozer admiring your tattoos as well.
yep probably gone from upstanding, active army person, to washed up, boozed soaked waster of a bar fly
Look for trouble action man
Army boy it’s doesn’t mean your big man come and see who tough squaddie all private scum
I would by you a drink after.
Your.a major disgrace to are help for heroes
‘to support more than 32,000 Isle of Wight households’
What’s going on here?
From the Council website, based on the last census: ‘There were 64,800 households on the Isle of Wight.’
That’s 1 in every 2 households claiming, apparently or, much more likely, the same people are coming back time and time again for more handouts.
Benefits are very generous, some would say overly generous, in this country, hence people risking their lives to get here every day, so why aren’t we doing more to find out what these people who are claiming are actually spending the money they’re given on? Yes, a few slip through the net and need help occasionally, but they’re a tiny minority. It shouldn’t be time after time, month after month.
I had this attitude, largely adopted from newspaper articles, myself until quite recently.
Out of interest, which benefit do you think you could actually live on? And what sort of figure do you expect to land each month? I’ve watched someone die whilst trying to live on less than £365 a month very very recently. It absolutely shocked me tbh.
Every pensioner gets this. That’s why the numbers are so high
£25 is not a lot of money for food from now until September, if you are hard up. It’s not enough, really. Plenty of people who are working are needing this help. It says an awful lot about how divided society has become. No, people shouldn’t need it, but they desperately do, due to high living costs, that they are paying for – not everyone is in receipt of benefits.
No one is suggesting that people are expected to live on £25 until September. You’ll get plenty more benefits to pay for your booze, drugs and pizzas so don’t worry. And if you are working, why can’t you live within your means?
Poverty is nothing new. Let’s think back when there was no central heating, no double glazing, no insulation and no hand out’s.
If we were short of money we got of our backside got another job not scrounge of the rest of the community. A high percentage of these so called poor people still manage to have 50inch television. huge fat lips, Botox , tattoo’s , vapes and then refuse to work extra hours in case it reduces there benefits. Scrap the lot and properly assess those that really need it off which there are a lot.
Vote Reform because they have a policy of reducing benefits if people on benefits have more children. Pension age people will also have fitness assessments and will be expected to work if they still can. No more handouts.
Are you not of a generation who enjoyed adequate Council Housing (which also subsidized and lowered private housing costs) and free education right through university, Bob?
I am. I think we all had far more benefits than we think we did tbh. We’ve since been fed a diet of anyone who needs help is a scrounger, which is a bit rich given the eye watering size of the handouts this awful government keeps paying out to cronies.
You can always tell if a person is a benefit bum by the
amount of Tattoos they have.
If you were an ex forces ,show some dignity the first thing you should show is restraint,I’m glad I never served with you ,you certainly don’t ask to meet people at the veteran .Apoligise to anyone who read that persons posts .
A reduction in our Council taxes would be much appreciated.