Renfrewshire Council

What the Community Care Grant is

The Community Care Grant can help with expenses so you, or someone you care for, can set up a home and stay in your community.

You can use the grant for: 

• furniture, like sofas, armchairs, carpets, curtains, or wardrobes
• household equipment, like a cooker, fridge, washing machine, beds, or bedding 
• clothing
• travel costs, excluding travel to school or holidays
• removal or storage costs
• installation charges for cookers and washing machines
• connection charges for gas and electricity 
• repair of broken or faulty items or appliances.

You cannot use the grant for:

• school meals or school uniforms - find out about free school meals and school uniform grants
• medical costs - find out about help with health costs on the NHS Inform website
• housing costs - you might be eligible for a Discretionary Housing Payment (DHP) if you need help to pay your housing costs
• expenses that could be covered by other Social Security Scotland benefits 
• debts
• any expenses outside the UK.

Who the Community Care Grant is for

To apply, you must be: 

• 16 or over
• living or about to live in Renfrewshire
• on a low income or getting certain benefits to apply. 

You may be able to get a Community Care Grant if:

• you're leaving care or prison and need help to set up your own home 
• you've been homeless, or living an unsettled life, and need help to set up your new home 
• you need support to stay out of care 
• you're caring for someone who's been released from prison or from a young offender's institution 
• you're experiencing great pressure and need help to keep a settled home 
• you're escaping domestic abuse 
• a child's health is at risk. 

You're more likely to get the grant if you're on a low income or you get one of these benefits:

• Income Support 
• Jobseekers Allowance (JSA) - income based
• Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) - income based
• Pension Credit
• Universal Credit. 

If you or your partner's savings are more than £700, or more than £1200 if you get a pension, you are less likely to get a Community Care Grant. 

How to apply

Apply online for a Community Care Grant

You'll get a unique reference code when you start the application form. Make sure you keep a note of this code.

If you do not complete the form within 20 minutes, your session will expire, and your data will not be saved. 

However, you can save your application by adding an email address and a password. You can use your reference code, email address and password to log in again and complete your application. 

On the application form, you'll need to tell us:

• your National Insurance (NI) number
• your date of birth
• a Housing Benefit or Council Tax reference number if you have one
• your address, postcode, and date you moved in to where you are currently staying
• if you own or rent the property, you're leaving somewhere or staying with someone you know 
• if you have a partner, children, or other dependants
• what income or savings you have or what benefits you get
• any other money or help you've tried to get
• what you need to buy or replace and how much you think they will cost
• any health problems like illness, a medical condition, disability, infirmity due to age, mental health problems, drug or alcohol problems
• any other support, service, charity, or organisations that are helping you.
• any other information about your current circumstances like family problems, poor living conditions or coping after a disaster, risks to your family's health and safety.

If you need help to apply, you can call our Advice Works team on 0300 300 1238

• Mondays to Thursdays, 8.45am to 4.45pm
• Fridays between 8.45am to 3.55pm.

Once you have applied, we'll contact you within 15 working days to let you know our decision.

How we make a decision

The amount of funding we have for this grant is limited. This means that we cannot help everyone who applies. 

To help us decide, your application is given a high, medium, or low priority depending on your needs and circumstances, or if you do not have any other way of paying for what you need.

We may contact other departments or agencies who are helping you, such as health professionals or social workers, to verify your circumstances and any issues you may have.

We may also make a home visit, if required, before we give you the grant.

Community Care Grants are one-off payments and cannot support your income long term.
If you need help with recurring expenses and you're on a low income, see what other benefits or financial help you could get.

How we pay the grant 

We can pay the grant directly into your bank account, if you have one, or give you cash by text, which you can redeem in any shop that has PayPoint.

Depending on what you need, we may give you the items you've asked for, instead of cash or bank transfer. We'll contact you to arrange delivery or collection of the items.

You don't have to pay this grant back.

Ask us to review a Community Care Grant decision

If you are not happy with our decision or you want more information about it, you can ask us to review a Community Care Grant decision decision