Charitable Fund
If you're experiencing financial difficulties, you may be eligible to receive support from us through our Charitable Fund. The fund is open to SNG customers who may have had a recent change in circumstances which has temporarily affected their household income and had a negative impact on their finances. The Charitable Fund can help you through this situation until you get yourself back on your feet. You can use it towards the costs associated with finding a new job such as interview clothes and travel to interviews, replacing essential broken household goods such as a cooker or fridge, and much more.
The Charitable Fund is open to anyone living in a home managed by SNG and who meets the eligibility criteria. You can refer yourself, a family member, friend or neighbour to apply for and receive support from the fund.
If your application is successful, you'll receive support from the Charitable Fund in the form of, but not limited to:
- Food vouchers
- Fuel vouchers
- Tangible items such as beds, white goods and seating
- Support purchasing materials or equipment for community groups.
You should not use the Charitable Fund as a replacement for benefits, Universal Credit or any other help that should be provided by a statutory agency such as the local council. If you are entitled to this support, please continue to claim or get in touch with our Welfare Advice Team who may be able to help you. You can find out more about benefits you may be entitled to on our Benefits and financial support page.
Eligibility criteria
You must meet the following criteria:
- Live in a property owned or managed by SNG
OR
- Be part of a community group / organisation that wants to carry out project or activity that will support residents in our communities
AND
- Meet our 'charitable test' below.
Charitable test
Your application shows that the help we would provide through the fund in an emergency situation:
- Is not available through any statutory service or other means
AND
- Will promote or protect the housing needs of the resident or their community
OR
- Will promote the relief of the aged, disabled or chronically sick.
This is an emergency fund and therefore if you are applying for a household item, we’re only able to provide essential items. We’ve added the most common items into a table below for you to see what we do and don’t provide in an emergency.
| Category | Items we may provide in an emergency |
| Bedroom furniture | Bed, Bedding, Mattress |
| Living room furniture | Sofa, Armchair |
| White goods | Washing machine, Cooker, Fridge freezer |
We can provide a Sainsbury’s or Tesco voucher in rare circumstances where a food bank is unable to help. First click on this link to find the Food Bank closest to you:
Find a Food Bank - The Trussell Trust
Where we provide you with a food voucher, we will only provide one voucher per year.
We are only able to provide fuel vouchers to those who are on pre-payment meters i.e. you pay at a PayPoint or at the Post Office. If you pay by Direct Debit, we are unable to support you due to the types of vouchers we are able to get. We are only about to provide one voucher per year.
Most of the big energy providers have their own Trust or Fund to support their customers. You can have a look at a few of the big ones below:
Please note: If your provider isn’t listed above, you can search for the provider’s name and then either Fund or Trust, or a page about Help paying your bill. It’s always worth getting in touch with your energy provider to discuss your circumstances.
How to apply
You will need to apply for the Charitable fund using our online form below. Please provide as much information as possible which will help with your application. We only accept one application per household per year. We will respond to your request within five working days.
Charitable fund standard application form
Charitable fund voucher application form
Need more information?
If you would like to find out more information about the Charitable Fund, please read our Charitable Fund policy and procedure.
Read the Charitable Fund policy
Read the Charitable Fund procedure
