While the general hardship fund is currently suspended, the Foundations Independent Living Trust has secured a separate funding through npower's Health Through Warmth initiative.
What is the Health Through Warmth funding for?
This will be a restricted fund to pay for insulation and heating works where the person in receipt of payment is suffering from a housing-related health issue. This fund will include Warm Front top-ups, which are presently excluded from the general fund.
Applications can be made for part-funding (usually up to 50%) of heating or insulation measures that will have a positive impact on clients whose health is affected by cold and damp. The process will work in a similar way to existing applications to the hardship fund, but you will need to use the new application form and guidance notes which can be found on the Foundations website.
The partnership enables Health Through Warmth to reach beyond the 15 areas of England and Wales in which it currently operates. To make the fund as widely available as possible, the FILT trustees have decided that applications will normally be limited to 10 in one year for each local authority area. The year for the hardship fund runs from April to March. Once you have made 10 successful applications, further applications will need to go to the trustees for approval.
Health Through Warmth co-ordinators working with clients who have already accessed the Health Through Warmth Crisis Fund cannot access further Health Through Warmth funding through FILT, but are still able to submit applications to the FILT general hardship fund on behalf of their clients.
The provision of the HTW Funding is intended to provide financial assistance to vulnerable people with a cold- and/or damp-related illness, when:
they were not able to fund measures themselves, they did not qualify for statutory grants and insufficient funds are available from other sources, and/or
their health condition dictated that measures were urgent and that it would be detrimental to their health to wait for installation through statutory schemes even if eligible or,
they were in hospital and unable to return home until heating and/or hot water were available in their property (such as bed blocking), therefore the situation was regarded as an emergency.
It is expected that all clients will already have been asked to make a contribution, where possible, towards the cost of measures.
Illnesses that fit into the following categories will be considered as eligible for HTW Funding assistance.
Respiratory disease (for example, COPD, emphysema, chronic bronchitis, severe asthma)
Cardiovascular disease (for example, heart disease and stroke)
Diabetes (particularly type 1)
Arthritis (osteo and rheumatoid, requiring regular treatment and review)
Reduced mobility, including risk of trips and falls
Cancer
Terminal illness
Mental illness (depression and receiving treatment, schizophrenia, manic depression)
Unlike the general hardship fund, the Health Through Warmth hardship fund is not a last resort and can be applied for alongside statutory and other sources of finance routinely used by home improvement agencies. For more information on the criteria for the HTW fund, please read the guidance notes for the Health Through Warmth fund.
If we receive an application to the fund for more than £500, we will pass it to the trustees for consideration.
Click here for more details on how to apply for the Health Through Warmth hardship fund.
