Community grants - Household Support Fund
Contents
- Community grants - Household Support Fund
- Household Support Fund 2025/2026 grant framework
- Project briefs
Community grants - Household Support Fund
Voluntary and community organisations can apply for grants to support our community with the cost of living.
Each grant has a separate project brief. If you would like to apply for more than one grant, separate applications must be submitted.
These grants are funded by UK Government as part of the Household Support Fund. Each grant differs in value and there will be one award per grant.
Applications close on Monday 13 October 2025 at 12 noon.
| Grant number | Specification | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Home improvements - provide information, home improvement, replacement and repair of essential household items, insulation, lighting, and white goods. This can be recommended from an energy assessment. |
£40,000 |
| 2 | Food poverty - provide a co-ordinated approach to tackling food poverty in North Northamptonshire by delivering support to residents in need. This will include working in partnership with other service providers, such as food banks. |
£25,000 |
| 3 | Outreach - provide outreach work to ensure those who are harder to reach i.e. pensioners, carers and care leavers digitally excluded can access support available to them. |
£25,000 |
| 4 | Budget management - through the provision of a co-ordinated approach provide budget management to residents especially those low-income, and vulnerable for households across North Northamptonshire. |
£35,000 |
| 5 | Winter support and warmth - through the provision of a co-ordinated approach deliver a winter support and warmth programme to low-income/vulnerable households across North Northamptonshire. |
£25,000 |
| 6 | Energy support - provide a gas, electric and water support programme through assessment and or advice to low-income households across North Northamptonshire. |
£15,000 |
| 7 | Winter meal programme - deliver a winter meals programme to homeless, low-income, and vulnerable households in North Northamptonshire through a collaborative approach. This will include working in partnership with other service providers such as foodbanks, soup kitchens, lunch clubs in response to cost-of-living crisis affecting residents across North Northamptonshire. |
£15,000 |
Refer to our Household Support Fund Grant Framework and community funding privacy notice for further information.
Organisations
The following can apply:
- parish councils
- charities
- community and voluntary groups
- clubs
- not-for-profit organisations
School PTAs, ‘Friends of’ groups, health charities and religious bodies can also apply if their projects benefit the wider community and support our aims.
Funding and eligibility
Organisations must:
- demonstrate value for money in the investment of public funds (environmental, social and economic)
- ensure the identified funding priorities are met
Our project briefs outline the specifications for each grant:
- Home improvement
- Food poverty
- Outreach
- Budget management
- Winter support and Warmth
- Energy support
- Winter meal programme
We can help fund:
- up to 5% core running costs (heat and light, insurance rent or premises costs, office costs, etc)
- programme or direct costs which are directly relevant to the individual grant specification
- projects or activities that supports households in need of support to cover the essential living costs such as food, clothing, utility bills and household costs
- travel and transport costs associated with events in North Northamptonshire related to grant distribution within 60 miles
- hire or purchase of equipment for meeting project needs
- technical assistance (where third-party support is required to meet the project outcomes)
- publicity, marketing but not political lobbying
- volunteer expenses
We can't help fund:
- Applications from households based and outside of the North Northamptonshire Council boundary
- Requests for grants from organisations which are discriminatory, political, or are classed as religious conversion
- Where there is statutory funding provision available
- Costs that can be claimed back from elsewhere (e.g. VAT)
- Costs that are not auditable (e.g. cash payments unsupported by an approved financial system)
- Costs towards the organisation's banking charges or repayment of debt
- Payments made to individual members of an organisation who have a personal financial interest
- Retrospective costs (e.g. activities completed, or costs incurred before the agreement of funding)
- Programmes or activities which are considered the core activity of national or regional government, Government departments, or arms-length body, such as health or education
- Gifts and prizes
- Alcohol
- Employee costs, including salaries (unless agreed by the funder)
- Political lobbying
- Training or facilitation costs
- Works to facilities that should be subject to an insurance claim
The following conditions apply for successful applicants:
- funding awards are paid upon receipt of a signed grant agreement, annex and accompanying documentation
- your organisation will need to comply in accordance with the provisions of and principles of the Data Protection Act 2018
- this grant is not transferable between projects or organisations
- a grant is awarded on the basis of information provided in the application. Should this information be found to be misleading, or the supported project is cancelled, the council will be entitled to be repaid the grant monies
- applications must be for a non-profit making purpose
- it is the responsibility of the applicant to ensure they have all relevant consents and permissions in place (i.e. planning permission, DBS checks, and licenses). A grant award does not give permission to proceed with any work without the correct statutory authorisation
- successful grants awarded must be spent by the end of February 2026 and must meet and comply with the grant arrangements
- successful grants awarded must comply with appropriate monitoring systems, including a final report and any relevant documentation such as receipts
Apply
To apply, you will need your:
- certificate of public liability insurance in the sum of at least £5 million
- constitution or governing documentation
- equality policy
- year-end accounts
- child protection statement (if applicable)
- vulnerable adults statement (if applicable)
Once you have applied, we may ask for further information and supporting evidence.
Next steps
Our Stronger Communities Officers will assess the applications and make recommendations to the Oversight Board, who will make the final award decisions. This panel includes:
- representation from our Stronger Communities team
- representation from our Finance team
- Stronger Communities (Partnership) Manager
- Household Support Fund Team Leader
A decision will be made within 2 months.
If you have any queries, please email [email protected].
Last updated 15 September 2025