Cash for voluntary groups to help households

Voluntary groups in Herefordshire will share nearly a quarter of a million pounds from a government scheme to ease the impact of the cost of living squeeze.

Most of the £1.33 million allocated to the county from the Household Support Fund is to directly support households struggling with food and energy bills and other essentials.

But funding of £244,000 for other organisations will enable them to also support struggling households in turn, the council says.

The 11 organisations are:

• Age UK Hereford and Localities (support for food, £24,000)
• Bromyard Foodbank and Money Advice Centre (support for food, energy and other essentials, £22, 680)
• Hereford Foodbank (food, £22,825)
• Herefordshire Community Foundation (energy and other essentials, £30,000)
• Ledbury Foodbank (food and other essentials, £9,870)
• Leominster Foodbank and Money Advice Centre (food, energy and other essentials, £21,500)
• The Living Room, Hereford (food, energy and other essentials, £26,400)
• Mothers’ Union, Diocese of Hereford (household essentials, £10,100)
• Herefordshire No Interest Loan Scheme (household essentials, £20,000)
• Putson Baptist Church (food, energy and other essentials, £28,120)
• Severn Wye Energy Agency (energy, £28,750)

The council says these “are existing trusted partners which had already been recipients of government grants to support low income households during the Covid 19 pandemic”.