The Household Support Fund, which is funded by UK Government, has been extended for another year running to March 2026.
For the 2025/26 financial year the government has allocated £3,987,524 to help Medway residents.
This will allow the Household Support Fund grant scheme to continue to run, which can provide vouchers for food and home essentials, energy, school uniforms and more.
Anyone who lives in Medway is able to apply for the support. The scheme does not require banking details to be provided, and residents should be aware we will never request this information over the telephone.
In addition to the grant scheme, we will continue to provide free school meal vouchers to families of every eligible child throughout the school holidays through the Household Support Fund.
Vital lifeline
Cllr Vince Maple, Leader of Medway Council, said: “The Household Support Fund provides support to some of Medway’s most vulnerable residents, so I am pleased that government have committed to ensuring this vital lifeline continues to run for the coming year. For example, we know there are more than 12,500 children in Medway who are eligible for free school meals – being able to ensure that they and their families continue to receive that support is incredibly important to us as a council.”
In addition to the Household Support Fund, we have pulled together all of the support that is available from the us, partners and other organisations into one place as part of our cost-of-living response plan.
See what support is on offer
Cllr Maple added: “We thought it was important to try and make it as straight forward as possible for people to find the help that is on offer. I would encourage anybody who is struggling, or knows someone who may benefit from additional support, to see what support is on offer.”