Household Support Fund

To be eligible for support from the Household Support Fund (HSF), you must be financially vulnerable. Recognised professionals or practitioners that you are working with will need to talk to you and evaluate your financial vulnerability. Referrals will then be evaluated by internal Cheshire East teams.  Further information may be requested.

A range of support is available to help financially vulnerable adults, children and their families living in Cheshire East:

• Food and energy support
• Support for household essentials covering white goods, bedding and basic refurbished furniture items (if available)
• Exceptional cost support
• Cheshire East is also going to support Voluntary, community and faith sector organisations in the form of grant awards, for example food bank support and furniture support schemes.

Other sources of support and information are listed on the cost of living support page.

The current referral opportunity closes/ closed on 28 March 2025.  Referrals cannot be backdated.

From 1 April 2025 one referral for financially vulnerable adults or families is available for food and energy. Only one referral can be accepted.

If new referral opportunities become available this information will be updated on this web-page.

• You should discuss your need for support with food and energy costs with any trusted professional who is currently working with you or knows your current situation. If appropriate they can then make a referral on your behalf
• A trusted professional is a person who works in an organisation that supports adults and families. A trusted professional can work in a range of organisations, for example they may work in health, education, housing support and advice, faith or third sector organisations. This is not an exhaustive list and if the professional is unsure if they can make a referral on your behalf, please request that they email the HSF Family Team via HSFFamily@cheshireeast.gov.uk
• Food and energy referrals will be processed within 5 working days from receipt of your trusted professional referral
• Support for food would be provided through supermarket vouchers via email from The Hawk Select Team (selectcode@select-essentials.co.uk)
• Support for energy would be provided in cash via an email from the Post Office (donotreply@postoffice-payout.co.uk)
• Ensure you give the correct email address to your professional. Errors in referral details will lead to delays in the support being provided
• You must be able to access the voucher codes via a smart phone or be able to print from a computer. If you are not able to do this, you must tell your trusted professional when they make the referral
• Trusted professionals will be updated by the HSF team if a referral they have made is declined. 

The award granted will be based on household composition. See the table below for details.

Pensioner fuel support

Pensioner fuel award payments will be made. More information will be shared on this web-page when available.

Support for household essentials covering white goods, bedding and basic refurbished furniture items is available.

• You should discuss your need for support with household essential costs with any trusted professional who is currently working with you or knows your current situation. If appropriate, your trusted professional would then make a referral on your behalf to a charitable organisation
• A trusted professional is a person who works in an organisation that supports adults and families. A trusted professional can work in a range of organisations, for example they may work in health, education, housing support and advice, faith or third sector organisations. This is not an exhaustive list and if the professional is unsure if they can make a referral on your behalf, please request that they email the HSF Family Team via HSFFamily@cheshireeast.gov.uk

This funding is available to support financially vulnerable adults, children and their families to move forward with significant positive change and take steps to make this change sustainable.

• You will need to discuss your need for exceptional cost support with a trusted professional. Your trusted professional will need to talk to you about why you need this support, how receiving this support will have significant positive impact for you/you and your family and what plans you have in place to reduce the need for similar support in the future.
• If you are discussing a referral for debt support with your trusted professional, you need to provide evidence that you have contacted the organisation for debt advice and have, or will have, a debt plan in place. This will need to be in place before a referral can be made. If you have not done this, talk about it with your professional. Any referrals that do not satisfy these conditions will not be considered.
• If appropriate, your trusted professional would then need to make a referral on your behalf.
• Decisions to award exceptional cost support will be made at a HSF Decision Making Panel which will be held monthly. Trusted professionals will be notified of the outcome following the panel meeting. Communications regarding a referral will take place with the trusted professional who has made the referral on your behalf.