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Financial Support

When money is tight, food sometimes feels like the last thing you can afford. But we all need to eat! 

In this section, we have links to lots of resources and organisations that can offer you help, without judgement.  

If you have nowhere to stay tonight, are under threat of homelessness, or it is not safe for you to remain in your current property. Please ring Hull City Council Housing Options Team on 01482 612 040 during office hours (Monday to Thursday – 9am to 5pm, Fridays – 9am to 4.30pm) or 01482 300 304 outside of office hours, and an officer will help you. Alternatively, you can go to the below link for advice and to complete a self-referral. An officer will call you back within 48 hours. http://www.hull.gov.uk/housing/find-home/housing-options-service 

If you do not have access to a phone, you can attend The Wilson Centre (Alfred Gelder Street, Hull, HU1 2AG) where you will be able to use a phone to contact the Housing Options Team. 

Citizens Advice can also provide you with independent advice and information on applying for homelessness help. 

Hull Food Bank 

To access Hull Food Bank a voucher must first be obtained from Citizens Advice, between 9am and 12 noon. You will be assessed by an advisor and you are not guaranteed a food parcel or voucher. If they feel you are struggling to put food on the table, they will issue you with a foodbank voucher. The local agency can also provide long term support if needed to help address some of the issues behind the reasons for your crisis. 

If you call or email Hull Food Bank they can talk through your situation and put you in touch with a relevant local agency. Call 01482 224783 or email via admin@hull.foodbank.org.uk For more information visit https://hull.foodbank.org.uk/get-help/ 

Open Doors  

Open Doors provide support for asylum seekers, refugees and migrant workers. A letter of referral is required to request a food parcel. Open Doors hold a weekly drop-in session every Thursday between 10am and 2pm, or you can call 01482 342 567. Find out more here. 

Please use the information in this link to find out if you are able to get immediate financial help.

Citizens Advice 

Citizens Advice Hull & East Riding (CAB) provides free, confidential, impartial and independent advice and information on a wide range of subjects. These include debt, money advice, benefits, employment, housing, relationships and family, consumer, travel, tax, health, immigration and discrimination problems. Advice can be accessed through face to face meetings, over the phone, by letter or by email. 

CAB Advisers can help with benefit checks, completing complex forms and negotiating with third parties such as: 

  • The Department for Work & Pensions (DWP)
  • Creditors – that you owe money to
  • Writing letters to Councils
  • Employers
  • Landlords

The services provided by Citizens Advice Hull & East Riding are free of charge. For general information visit: http://www.hullandeastridingcab.org.uk/ For specialist debt advice please call: 01482 226 859. For all other advice please call: 0800 144 88 48. For email advice use: e-advice@hull-eastridingcab.org.uk or for residents registered with a Hull GP: Enquiries@ConnectWellHull.org.uk  

There are limited drop-in sessions available at the Hull Office, but please be aware that these only operate on Mondays and Fridays from 9.30am to 4pm and you may have to wait for a long time. 
Hull Office: The Wilson Centre, Alfred Gelder Street, Hull, HU1 2AG 

Connect Well Hull 

Connect Well Hull is a free, confidential service available to anyone who lives in Hull, or is registered with a Hull GP. Local people will be able to meet with Wellbeing Co-ordinator or Welfare Adviser at a wide range of locations across the city, including GP practices and community venues. Referrals can be made by a GP or other health or social care professional, or individuals can refer themselves online or by telephone. Connect Well Hull’s Welfare Advisers can provide advice on a wide range of issues including: 

  • Benefits
  • Money worries
  • Housing problems
  • Family breakdown
  • Employment disputes

You can get in touch with the Connect Well Hull team by phone on 01482 217 670, by email via enquiries@connectwellhull.org.uk  or complete an online form.

Universal Credit Help to Claim Service 

Advisers are available 8am-6pm, Monday to Friday. Call 0800 1448 444 

CMA 

Community Money Advice (CMA) is a national charity committed to supporting churches and community groups who have a passion to help people overcome their money problems. CMA provides all the resources, training and support needed to establish and maintain local, free, face to face money advice services.  Fully trained Debt Advisers and Money Mentors offer advice specific to each client’s needs and they give as much time and support as required, in order to help the client become debt free, whilst working towards financial stability. During the advice process, clients will also be taught budgeting and money management skills, to ensure they have control over their finances, enabling them to remain debt free in the future. 

It is a free service and can help to share the stress and worry which is inevitable when you are in debt. They will work with you and contact creditors on your behalf and present them with details of your income and expenditure in order to prove that you cannot pay the amounts which Creditors are asking for. Creditors are bound by law to work with organisations who help people in debt. They are not allowed to ignore someone who seeks help when they are in debt. 

Hull Community Money Advice is based at two locations in Hull: 

Turn2Us 

Turn2Us helps people in financial need gain access to welfare benefits, charitable grants and other financial help – online, by phone and face to face through partner organisations. They offer a free and easy-to-use Benefits Calculator and Grants Search tools to check what benefits you might be able to claim and what grants you might be able to apply for. 

Stop Loan Sharks

Stop Loan Sharks investigate and prosecute loan sharks. Their official title is the England Illegal Money Lending Team (IMLT). They are the lead organisation in England with the power to prosecute loan sharks and illegal money lenders. Since 2004, they have helped over 30,000 people who have borrowed from loan sharks. They will be with you at every step of the way. Investigators work alongside Liaise Officers who will give you one to one support if needed. This might be help with housing or debt issues, referrals for health problems or even advice borrowing money safely. After you make a report, investigators take the information you give them and start to gather a case against the illegal lender. Find out more here or call 0300 555 2222 to safely report a loan shark. 

There are some schemes in place to help children and families access food. Eligibility often depends on how much you earn and where you live.  

Free school meals   

In England and Scotland, all children in the first 3 years of primary school can receive Free School Meals regardless of family income. For older children and all children in Wales and Northern Ireland, eligibility for free school meals is dependent on family income.   

You can review the criteria for each location and click through to apply here.

You can also use this eligibility checker to find out whether your child qualifies for Free School Meals.

You can find further information about free school meals for children in Hull here

Free School Meals for low-income migrant children 

During Covid-19, Free School Meals have been temporarily extended to children from groups with No Recourse to Public Funds (NRPF).   

These groups are:   

  • children of Zambrano carers
  • children of families with no recourse to public funds with a right to remain in the UK on grounds of private and family life under Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights
  • children of families receiving support under Section 17 of the Children Act 1989 who are also subject to a no recourse to public funds restriction

Find out if you are eligible and apply here.

Healthy Start   

The Healthy Start scheme provides vouchers for vitamins, cow’s milk, pulses and fruit and vegetables if you’re at least 10 weeks pregnant or have children aged under 4. If you live in England, Wales or Northern Ireland you can see if you’re eligible and apply here. Some supermarkets are helping Healthy Start vouchers go further by providing extra value: 

Various local grocers, corner shops and pharmacies also accept Healthy Start vouchers, click here to see a map of retailers accepting Healthy Start in Hull and the East Riding: (link to map) 

Help over the school holidays 

If you need help with money or food for your children over the holidays, you might be able to access emergency funds from your council, or other support from local charities, food banks and businesses.  You can search for help on this map according to your location. 

FutureShift

FutureShift Mutual Aid Hub is run by TimeBank Hull & East Riding. They offer person-centred programme focused on the world of work. As well as the more traditional services you would expect from an employment related project such as writing CV’s, job searching, support with application forms, interview preparation etc, their offer includes: 

  • 1:1 support from a friendly and down to earth mentor
  • The time and space to explore what’s right for you
  • Connect to 100s of like-minded people & businesses
  • Resources & toolkits
  • Opportunities to test new ideas
  • Meeting & hot desk spaces 

Everything is at your own pace and tailored to you.  

If you need a computer to keep in touch, help with job searches or set up a business, they also have a selection of refurbished laptops and PCs, all fully Covid quarantined and cleaned, available to you if you live in or around Hull and have a genuine need. They can also help you get online and develop the skills you may need to be confident in the digital environment. Get in touch here. 

HEY Credit Union 

Hull and East Yorkshire (HEY) Credit Union has been in operation for over two decades. It offers affordable loans and safe ways to save. It is a not-for-profit financial co-operative serving over 15,000 members and junior savers across the Humber Region. Credit unions are classed as an essential service, which allowed branches to remain open during the lockdown, but with reduced opening hours and cash handling in the interests of public safety.  Many of HEY Credit Union’s members work in vital public services and, to support them through a difficult time, a Key Worker Loan option with preferential interest rates was introduced. Members can be served online, using a new user-friendly app, and over the telephone, with same-day bank transfers.   A new streamlined online loan application process has reduced the time taken for people to access affordable credit. Find out more: https://www.hullandeycu.co.uk/index 

Green Doctor Service 

Groundwork’s Green Doctor service has still got funding to distribute free emergency top up vouchers to those with gas token meters and are struggling with debt. 

Hull Library of Stuff 

The Hull Library of Stuff lends items that you might only need to use once, saving you the expense of buying them. Registration online is extremely easy and you pay £1 for a year of membership. Once you have registered reserving items through the catalogue is simple, you select the dates you would like from the calendar. The collection service is quick as is the return. At collection you will be shown how to use the equipment you have borrowed. 

Sell Your Soles / Too Big For Your Boots 

The schuh Sell Your Soles scheme recycles your old and preloved shoes and gives you £5 off a new pair. The shoes are then collected by Recyclatex and the funds generated from this go to the World Land Trust to plant a tree. If it’s outgrown kids’ shoes you’re looking to donate, look out for the Too Big For Your Boots initiative in any schuh kids store. 

People’s Panel 

The People’s Panel is open to anyone aged 16 and over living in Hull or the East Riding. It currently includes over 3000 residents who regularly tell the council what they think; influencing the way they design services and informing local policy.  You can complete each survey online in less than 10 minutes. All completed surveys are entered into a prize draw, with past prizes including high street shopping vouchers, tablet computers and VIP sports match day experiences. Join up here.

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