How our crisis support can help you

The Crisis and Resilience Fund (CRF) is a government fund that helps people on low incomes who are struggling with money or facing an unexpected financial shock.

The fund can help with essential costs such as:

  • Food
  • Gas and electricity bills
  • Housing costs
  • Essential travel costs.

It also pays for local organisations to provide:

  • Money advice
  • Digital support
  • Help with everyday living costs.

Support is available in four ways:

  1. Emergency payments for people who need urgent help
  2. Housing support through district councils
  3. Money and budgeting advice to help people manage their finances and avoid future problems
  4. Funding for local community groups that support people in need.

Since April 2026, Hampshire County Council and Citizens Advice have been working together to deliver the fund and help eligible residents get the right support.

A longer-term scheme will be announced in Autumn 2026.

Am I eligible to apply?

Do you:

  • Live full time in Hampshire (please note that Southampton City, Portsmouth City and the Isle of Wight Councils operate their own schemes).
  • Face hardship:  Applicants must be experiencing a crisis, such as inability to pay for essentials (e.g. food or fuel) or have a sudden loss of income.
  • Have an immediate need, primarily for unexpected events such as appliance failure or emergency housing needs.
  • Have an adult in the household that is currently entitled to a means tested, passporting benefit, including Universal Credit, Pension Credit (Guarantee Credit), or Housing Benefit OR
  • Have a low household income after paying essential living costs.
  • Can evidence they are a household that does not have sufficient resources to resolve the immediate crisis without going without essentials, incurring unmanageable debt, or exacerbating financial harm.
  • Have limited access to savings (less than £6,000).
  • Have paperwork to show that you don't have enough money or support to deal with an emergency and would otherwise have to go without essentials, or get into debt you can't afford?
Information you will need to provide

When you apply you will be asked for:

  • Financial information, such as bank statements from the last month, recent income details, and any savings.
  • Photo identification and proof of address.
  • Proof of crisis – for example quote for repairs of white goods, letter of redundancy, bill for car repairs.
How to apply

You can apply for support through Citizens Advice.

If your application is successful Citizens Advice will work with you to provide the right level of support. If you are eligible, payments will be made in a variety of ways including vouchers that can be exchanged for cash at the Post Office, or PayPoint vouchers that can be ‘cashed in’ at stores running a PayPoint scheme.

Do you need support with housing costs?

Support might be available in certain circumstances with housing costs.

District and borough councils will be supporting vulnerable households with exceptional housing costs, where existing housing support schemes do not meet need, and for cases of genuine emergency.

To apply for support with housing costs, or for more information, contact your local borough, city or district council.

 
Do you have further questions?

If you have any questions or require this information in a different format (easy read, large print etc) please contact the CRF team by email: [email protected]