Household Support Fund- Food Vouchers for the December School Holiday
Food vouchers will be available for schools to order for the December half term Holiday through the WONDE e-voucher scheme again. We will be able to order vouchers for children we have identified as in need of food support through the school holidays as we have done previously. The system will open on Monday 5th December and close on Friday 6th January. The value of the voucher will be £15 per child for the week, so £30 for the two weeks holidays.
If you have any queries please contact us.
Other support with the Cost of Living situation
As the cost of living increases it is important to be aware of the benefits, payments and support options available to you. There are local and national schemes that can help you with rent, food, energy and more. The government has a national cost of living hub which can be found here Cost of living support – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) . In addition there is a range of local support which is available which is detailed below.
Household Support Fund 3
This funding is to support residents in BCP with the cost of living situations around keeping warm, reducing energy bills and accessing food across the winter.
In addition to the funding provided to schools for the flexible food vouchers, residents can also apply for short term financial help through food and/or energy vouchers through Citizen’s Advice BCP here Household Support Fund – Citizens Advice Bournemouth Christchurch & Poole (citizensadvicebcp.org.uk) If residents don’t have access to the internet to complete the form you can help them by signposting them to their nearest drop-in or outreach session which can be found here: Get Advice – Citizens Advice Bournemouth Christchurch & Poole (citizensadvicebcp.org.uk) These are the current drop-in sessions:
Bournemouth Outreach Hub
- Civic Centre, Town Hall, (BH2 6DX)
Monday – Thursday 10am – 2.30pm (Drop-ins only)
Christchurch Outreach Hub
- Christchurch Central Library (BH23 1AW)
Fridays 9:30am – 12:30pm (Drop-ins only)
Citizen’s Advice BCP also has other support and advice available. Their Community Advice Vehicle will be visiting various locations in the BCP area in the coming months.
Energy Advice
Eligible households can also benefit from a visit form an energy advisor who will support them with ways to reduce their bills, access energy saving advice and in some instances provide a new boiler depending on circumstances. Full details can be found here: LEAP Home Visit | Ridgewater Energy
Access to Food
There are a number of options for accessing community food support and these are detailed on the webpages here Community support if you are struggling to pay for food (bcpcouncil.gov.uk)
Frontline staff may want to download the Access to Food map which details all the offers od community food support across BCP along with the locations and opening times so that you can find support quickly: Food Map (v88.co.uk)
Safe and Well visits
Dorset and Wiltshire Fire & Rescue Service offer free Safe & Well advice, which can include a home visit and the provision of smoke and carbon monoxide detectors. To request this for yourself, a family member or a vulnerable person, please call them FREE on 0800 038 2323 (leave a message and someone will call you back) or visit www.dwfire.org.uk/safe-and-well-visits
A Warm Welcome network
We are supporting the development of a network of warm welcome spaces across Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole, where residents who struggle to keep their homes warm can go and keep warm in a welcoming space. Details of current Warm Welcome spaces can be found in the webpage here, along with information on how to set up a warm welcome space. Warm welcome spaces (bcpcouncil.gov.uk)
Funding for community groups to support with the Cost of Living
BCP Council have provided funding to Dorset Community Foundation for groups to apply for funding for projects that will support our communities with the costs of living situation. This includes funding to set up or develop a Warm Welcome space, funding for community food projects such as food banks and other support as appropriate. Details of the funding can be found here BCP Food and Warmth Support Fund – Dorset Community Foundation and the deadline for applications is the 28th November.
BCP Cost of Living support one-stop shop
For more information please see the dedicated Cost of Living support hub on the Council’s webpage which details the support available Cost of living help (bcpcouncil.gov.uk)
For general non-urgent enquiries please email communities@bcpcouncil.gov.uk
Support for Ukrainian Pupils and Families.
Kelly Twitchen has written to you to explain that she is preparing to make allocations to schools, settings and colleges for funding under the Homes for Ukraine (H4U) visa route.
The allocations this term will be for those children who entered the BCP authority area in Quarter 1 (1 March 2022 to 31 May 2022 ) and Quarter 2 (1 June 2022 to 31 August 2022 ) aged 2-18 at the time they entered the BCP area. All payments made will be per named child, for the additional expenditure incurred whilst they were on roll at your educational setting. This enables us to ensure payment follows any children who may have changed provision at key stage transition points or via in year moves. No payments can be made for children who entered the country via another Local Authority area. The ‘entry point’ Local Authority will have funding for those children.
Funding allocated can be used for the following expenditure as laid down in the grant conditions.
· to provide a place for 2, 3 and 4-year-olds accessing the 2-year-old, universal or 30 hours entitlements
· the provision of a suitable place for all other children up to the age of 18 (including time for staff resource and travel)
· funding placement of larger clusters of children into schools and early years settings, including the costs of additional and specialist teaching, non-teaching and administrative staff
· providing suitable travel arrangements, where necessary, to facilitate a child’s attendance at school or suitable education setting
· the provision of specialist and bespoke services, such as support for children with additional needs, and resources (this may include education materials for schools)
· free school meals and school uniform (including school bags, provisions for example, water bottles, etc.)
· to provide access to extra-curricular activities for example, sports
· to pay for community services whose provision benefits the children
· any other reasonable costs associated with the provision of education and childcare for the children