Ealing Council is urging the government to extend the Household Support Fund (HSF) so that we can continue to provide food, warm spaces, and one-off payments for essential items for residents, and also continue to support local charities providing vital services to residents struggling with the cost-of-living crisis.  

This winter, Ealing has used £5.3M of HSF money to:

Provide holiday food vouchers to 17,000 households – including 14,400 households with school age children and 1,200 households with children under 5.
Provide food vouchers for 339 young people in care. 
Provide food vouchers to 2,250 households receiving council tax relief or housing benefit. 
Provide food vouchers to 2,200 households who receive care at home. 
Give £200,000 to local charities to provide advice and support to residents 
Pay £300,000 in one-off payments to help residents with essential purchases

The HSF is a lifeline for households in real financial need. If the government axes the funding, then these services will simply stop as we, like other councils across England, will not be able to make up the funding ourselves. There is a real risk of many households falling through the gaps into crisis if this support is stopped.

Please sign the petition, and urge the government to think again.