Emergency help with food or fuel

There are lots of different places you can access help if you're in a crisis. It could be that you need urgent help with food or fuel or that you need help to obtain an essential item for your home.

On this page you will find lots of useful information on how to access services and support in a crisis. Scroll down to learn more.

We also have a dedicated hub designed to support you with rising food/energy costs and more. It includes:

  • money advice,
  • warm spaces,
  • energy advice,
  • tips to reduce your household bills,
  • tasty, affordable recipes,
  • support to access food and essential items (pantries),
  • employment support,
  • ..and more.

You can visit our cost of living support hub by tapping here.

Local Welfare Provision (LWP)

Local Welfare Provision (LWP) is a discretionary scheme run through your local council. It's a limited fund of money and is designed to help vulnerable people in times of emergency or crisis.

Your local council decides which types of crisis situations they should prioritise with their funding. Some of the things Local Welfare Provision may be able to help with include:

  • Emergency help with food.
  • Emergency help with gas and electricity.

What happens if my Local Welfare Provision application/claim is not successful?

If your claim for Local Welfare Provision is unsuccessful, please contact our Money Advice Team on 01204 328000 as we may be able to help you.

If you need emergency support in a crisis, please call into any of our UCAN centres or contact us. You can tap here to find your nearest UCAN centre.

Hardship Fund

We offer a hardship fund for our tenants who may need financial support or are suffering crisis with:

  • Emergency fuel payments.
  • White goods where other schemes have been exhausted.
  • Essential transport costs where other schemes have been exhausted.
  • Food parcels.
  • Downsizing.
  • A percentage of the under occupancy charge, where required property is not available or ready.
  • An exit strategy for furnished tenancy charges where employment has commenced and the package is no longer sustainable.

Please contact us on 01204 328000 for help and support.

Food banks and pantries

Food banks:

A food bank is a place where stocks of food, basic provisions, and non-perishable items are supplied free of charge to people in need. They're separate to the food pantries we help to run (see below).

To access a food bank, you need a referral voucher which can be provided through any of our Money Advice Team or through Bolton Council's Local Welfare Provision (LWP). You can call us on 01204 328000 if you'd like us to guide you through the process.

Our food pantries:

We also run food pantries in different areas of Bolton. At these sites you’ll be able to shop for food, drink, and other household essentials at low cost with a temporary membership fee.

You’ll get a warm welcome, a choice of goods and one-to-one support for anything troubling you. If you — or someone you know — could use some support from one of our food pantries, please tap here to visit our food pantries page.

Eligibility criteria do apply, but we'll always do what we can to support you.

Hardship Payment (from the Department for Work and Pensions)

Hardship payments are reduced-rate payments of Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA), Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) and Universal Credit (UC) that are made in limited circumstances, including if you've been sanctioned.

You or your partner or children must be experiencing hardship and in most cases you must show that you or your family will suffer hardship unless benefit is paid. In some cases for Jobseeker's Allowance (JSA), you must be in a ‘vulnerable group’.

If you want to apply for a hardship payment, ask at your local Jobcentre and they will help you fill out the form.