Benefits, money and debt
There is help available to support you:
- Turn2Us - Advice and support to help maximise your income and manage your Budget
- Credit Unions - These can help you with affordable loans
- Citizens Advice - For free and impartial advice on all aspects to support you through difficulty
Benefits
You may be able to claim benefits if you need more support to live independently.
People who may be eligible to claim benefits include:
- job seekers
- low-income families
- carers
- disabled people
Benefits are paid by the central government, not your local council.
You can read more about how benefits work on GOV.UK.
If you're not sure if you'd be able to claim benefits, you can use a benefits calculator to find out.
Debt advice
There are lots of organisations and services who can support you with debt advice, including:
You can also find debt advice services on our Suffolk InfoLink website.
They can help you with advice about:
- your legal rights
- managing your money
- how to deal with financial problems
Grants
A grant is an amount of money that a government or local authority gives to an individual or an organisation for a particular purpose, such as support with housing costs.
If you are struggling financially, there are grants available which you may be eligible to apply for which can help lessen the burden. The following support is administered by Suffolk County Council:
Household Support Fund
The Household Support Fund is an allocation of funding the Government has given Suffolk to support people who are struggling to pay their energy and utility bills.
Suffolk County Council allocates this funding to residents in the following ways:
Support for children during school holidays
Where a child is eligible for income related free school meals, families will be contacted directly by their child's school regarding supermarket voucher grants, available to them during the school holiday from October 2022 until March 2023. Further information will be available from your school on what support is being offered.
Where a child is not eligible for free school meals because they are not attending a state funded school, a family can seek support directly from the Local Welfare Assistance Scheme.
Make a direct application to the Local Welfare Assistance Scheme
The Local Welfare Assistance Scheme (LWAS) helps those experiencing financial hardship. There are lots of reasons why you may be in hardship and if you are eligible, we can provide financial help.
The scheme is not intended as emergency support and only one application can be made per household. LWAS is not intended as long-term support. The quickest way to make an application is via the webform, using your smartphone, tablet or computer. If you have all the information required to make an application the webform will take approximately 15 minutes to complete.
To make an application and find out whether you are eligible for support, please visit the Local Welfare Assistance Scheme webpage.
Housing support via District and Borough Councils
If you need further help with housing support, it is recommended that you discuss your circumstances with your local Housing Needs Team so they can help identify what options may be available to you and the support required. Please note, the team are unable to support with mortgage assistance as part of the Household Support Fund. To contact your local housing team, please visit:
