The Royal Borough of Windsor & Maidenhead is reminding residents that cost of living support remains available for those in need, as the council and community partners continue to work together to help those struggling financially.
The council has been working closely with 18 frontline community partners to offer a range of support to residents.
Partners identified those in greatest need, helped the residents apply for government payments, and directed them to relevant local partners for support further with food parcels, debt relief, council tax support, housing support, benefits, and wellbeing support. Together, we’ve helped 2,821 residents through our partnership and distributed 36,350 free school meal vouchers to families since 2021 – helping 1,959 vulnerable residents and 12,782 families since last summer alone.
Each of our partners have been carefully selected to make sure we reach the widest number of people. Much of this support has been targeted at those we know have been struggling, including Care Leavers, the elderly, and families.
Those facing difficult decisions around food, rent, heating or other essentials can still visit the council’s ‘Here to Help’ webpages at https://rbwmtogether.rbwm.gov.uk/hub-page/here-to-help to see what help might be available and check the free benefits calculator at https://www.entitledto.co.uk/ to see whether you could be missing out on national assistance.
Contact details for each of the community partners can be found at https://rbwmtogether.rbwm.gov.uk/household-support-fund Please continue to reach out for support if you need help. For those in need who don’t have online access, you can still call 01628 683800 or visit the webpages using the public-access computers at libraries, or speak with a librarian about getting online.
The council’s Financial Inclusion Team can also help residents to maximise their income. If you would like to discuss your income with a dedicated officer, please email mailto: financial.inclusion@rbwm.gov.uk and an appointment can be arranged. Officers can also make house visits as needed.
While the latest phase of this DWP Household Support Fund is now fully distributed, the cost of living remains high, and local partners are committed to working together to help residents access support. The government has recently announced Household Support Fund will be further extended, but allocations for councils and qualifying criteria are yet to be confirmed, so please do not try to apply at this time.
Councillor Catherine del Campo, Cabinet member for adults, health and housing services, said: “Our partnership with the community has been vital in ensuring residents can access a wide range of cost of living support and has already helped so many people.
“We know the cost of living remains high and it’s really important that residents continue to reach out for support if they are struggling. The cost of living has impacted everyone, and people shouldn’t feel embarrassed about asking for help. There are lots of people willing to help and you won’t be judged whatever your circumstances. The partnership that we’ve created offers a sustainable source of support for residents which offers wraparound support to residents beyond government support.
“You can also arrange an appointment with our Financial Inclusion Team to ensure you’re claiming everything you might be entitled to, and check our ‘Here to Help’ webpages to explore wider cost of living support and advice around energy and water bills, rent, council tax, food, childcare, school meals, benefits and more.”
Councillor Joshua Reynolds, Cabinet member for communities and leisure, added: “Working with our fabulous community partners, we’ve been able to identify those in greatest need to ensure the limited government funding has had the greatest impact, alongside connecting people to wider support in the voluntary and community sector.
“Everyone can play a part during these challenging times by being a good neighbour and looking out for each other, especially those who are vulnerable, unwell or elderly. If you’d like to help people in your community, there are lots of ways to get involved. Visit https://rbwmtogether.rbwm.gov.uk/volunteering for more information about volunteering and supporting your neighbours.”
Comments from two of the community partners
David Adam, advice services manager at Citizens Advice East Berkshire, said: “We know that the cost of living crisis is not over so we’re still here to help people with emergency food support, emergency pre-payment meter top-up support, benefit entitlement and can work with other local charities to support clients who may need help with specific items such as school uniforms.
“It’s been great to work with the council and other Household Support Fund partners to connect residents with other local charities and make sure residents can access a wide range of support.”
Danielle Lane, community development officer at Abri housing association, said: “The partnership between the council and the different support groups has been exceptional. We’ve all been involved in setting up the process and collaborating to solve problems – this has made the process seamless and straightforward for all involved. The cost of living partnership is now well established and will continue to look at ways of supporting each other and residents through the continued cost of living crisis.
“Over the past year, we have supported over 200 customers in extreme need of help with heating and family essentials.”
A real example of partnership support making a difference
With clients coming to Citizens Advice to be assessed for their eligibility for this support, we were also able to assist more generally. In a particular case we were contacted by a woman who was struggling with long-term health issues, she needed the fund to help her manage to get to and from the hospital and support extra heating costs. Through our work we were able to get help from the local food bank, look at voluntary support for her to get to and from hospital and check on her benefits to make sure she was getting all the right money she was entitled too. This really made a difference.