Thousands of households will be getting supermarket vouchers worth up to £150 as applications for the help open today (Thursday, November 2).
The help is being provided through Dorset Council's Household Support fund and will be given to residents living in the area. The Household Support Fund is a Government scheme which has given each local council in the UK a pot of cash to spend on supporting those struggling with the cost of living.
Each council chooses how they want to spend their pot of cash and Dorset Council has decided to provide low-income residents in the area with supermarket vouchers. These vouchers are given out each month with residents needing to make an application for them.
To qualify for the vouchers, you need to have an annual household net income of less than £30,000 and savings of less than £16,000. According to Dorset Council's website, your income should not include any many you get from benefits including Personal Independence Payments (PIP), Disability Living Allowance (DLA), Attendance Allowance, Carers Allowance, or Child Benefit.
You must also have not applied for Household Support Fund help within the last six months - this means if you received a £150 supermarket voucher last month then you won't be able to claim one this month. Applications are also limited to one per household.
Residents who meet the eligibility criteria will receive their supermarket vouchers within six to eight weeks of their application date.
The next round of applications opens today at 10am and those who are eligible can put in a claim for the £150 vouchers through Dorset Council's website here. If you need help with the form you can call Dorset Council's Household Support Fund support office on 01305 221000.
If you want to claim the help, you will need to be quick as each application window has a limited amount of funds and once these are gone the window will close. However, if you miss out this month, you shouldn't worry as you will be able to try again in December with the application window opening again on December 5.
Cllr Laura Beddow, Dorset Council Portfolio Holder for Culture, Communities and Customer Services said: "Round 4 of the Household Support Fund is here to provide a helping hand to low-income households in the Dorset Council area. Starting on 2 November, we’re reopening this support that offers supermarket vouchers to those in need. We’re committed to ensuring our community’s needs are met. If you do miss out on this window, another will open on Tuesday 5 December at 10am."
What is the Household Support Fund?
The Government's Household Support Fund scheme is designed to help low-income and vulnerable households struggling financially. Each local council is given a pot of money which they can use to help those living in their area. This help can either be claimed or it is given out to certain groups automatically. Help provided by councils usually includes cash payments, supermarket vouchers, or energy bill support.
The Household Support fund scheme was first brought in in 2021, and the most recent extension gave councils £842million to spend until March of next year. This takes the total amount allocated to the fund to over £2billion since it began.
To find out what support is on offer near you, get in touch with your local council or check their website - each council website should have a dedicated page set up with details of its Household Support Fund. Councils often only have certain windows to apply for any help so you will need to keep an eye out on when these windows are.