Support from community organisations
Support from Hampshire Libraries
Hampshire Libraries offer a range of cost-of-living support, partly funded by a grant from the Household Support Fund.
Support currently on offer, or planned before March 2024, includes:
- After school clubs and Saturday fun sessions with refreshments
- Café vouchers (in libraries with cafes)
- ChatAbout sessions
- Multiply numeracy workshops
- Period poverty stations in some libraries
- Books and Brunch sessions (from October 2023)
- Green and Thrifty Fortnight (February 2024)
Contact your local library for further information.
Current community grant recipients
Until the end of September 2024, Hampshire County Council, in line with the DWP Household Support Fund grant criteria, has made available £720,000 in community grants to enable organisations to support vulnerable residents with food and fuel poverty.
| District | Organisation | Project summary | Awarded | Website |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Basingstoke | Hatch Warren & Beggarwood Community Association | To provide a free hot meal service to free school meal pupils and families suffering hardship, who attend the weekly youth sessions at The Warren. | £2996.50 | www.hatchwarren.org |
| Basingstoke Community Radio | To produce a series of advice related podcasts and bite-sized audio clips on a bi-weekly basis, in partnership with financial organisations such as Waverly Financial Services and Citizens Advice to empower Basingstoke residents with the knowledge they need to navigate financial challenges over the coming months. | £2,465 | www.basingstokecommunityradio.org.uk | |
| Popley Fields Community Association | To support the continued running of the community pantry, including provision of additional food items, to bolster donated food stock. | £16,880 | ||
| Hatch Warren & Beggarwood Community Association | They will use the funding to run Link2 which will support 60 young adults with hot food, drinks and fruit alongside running specialised awareness sessions in educating the young adults about healthy, nutritional and low-cost meals, rather than quick snack options through cookery demonstrations. | £6,448 | www.hatchwarren.org/link2 | |
| YMCA Fairthorne Group | To support those at risk of homelessness residing at YMCA Basingstoke with meal ingredients for nine weeks to allow them to cook healthy meals. Alongside this each individual will be given a linen pack which contains bedding items such as a duvet, pillow and towels. | £11,327 | https://ymca-fg.org | |
| Tadley and District Community Association | Tadley and District Community Association will use the funding to support the continued running of the community pantry, including provision of additional food items, to bolster donated food stock. This will support 160 vulnerable households. | £14,234 | tadleycommunitycentre.org.uk | |
| Citizens Advice Rushmoor | Citizens Advice Rushmoor will use the funding to provide an additional two days of support (15 hours) per week of additional advice support through a second advisor. This will be focused on those residents who have come to the area through the 'Homes for Ukraine', Afghan resettlement (ARAP), and other schemes in recent months. This will be delivered for a period of six months. | £6,779.16 | https://citizensadvicerushmoor.org.uk/ | |
| Citizens Advice Rushmoor | Citizens Advice Rushmoor will use the funding to continue expand their current provision by funding a second experienced Nepali language adviser, to provide advice services targeted at this group, due to experiencing huge demand. This will include a weekly morning drop-in session at the Aldershot offices for elderly Nepali residents to visit in person and receive support. The funding would allow for an additional 15 hours per week of staff time, for 17 weeks. | £6,247.07 | https://citizensadvicerushmoor.org.uk/ |
| District | Organisation | Project summary | Awarded | Website |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| East Hampshire | Headley Down Food Bank | To purchase food to supplement donations to allow the continued stocking of the food bank. This will support around 85 households on a weekly basis until the end of September. | £10,000 | https://www.facebook.com/groups/headleydownfoodbank |
| District | Organisation | Project summary | Awarded | Website |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fareham & Gosport | JG Tennis Ltd | To provide 125 spaces at an activity camp with food and additional warm space, for one week, during October half term, for eligible vulnerable children plus additional support for up to 25 unique families linked to these spaces. This will run at Warsash Tennis Club. | £3,750 |
www.jgtennis.co.uk
|
| Citizens Advice Gosport | To hold Energy Information sessions in outreach locations in community centres/hubs situated where vulnerable clients reside. As well as energy support, a food voucher will be given on attendance at the sessions. Sessions will offer opportunities for attendees to be signposted for additional support on other issues they may be facing and showcase the support available at each centre and hub. This will benefit up to 200 households and is additional resource to the existing Citizens Advice grant for fuel poverty advice. | £2,100 | https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/ | |
| St Matthew's Church, Bridgemary | To provide meals every Wednesday to 12 vulnerable households (four people per household). Alongside this, during the school summer holidays, lunch and breakfast bags will be provided to 15 vulnerable households on a daily basis. Cooking classes will also be offered to parents alongside bags of ingredients for the family. Eight households can attend the weekly classes. | £9,120 | www.northgosportparish.co.uk | |
| Waypoint Hub & Fareham Food Bank | Will use the funding to buy fresh items to be included in their pantry selection that supports on average 130 households per week | £14,000 | www.waypointchurch.org.uk/waypoint-hub | |
| Citizens Advice Fareham | To provide advice at outreach locations for advice regarding: budgeting and maximising income, debt advice including; negotiation with creditors, write off of bad debt and accessing other local charitable help and support available. | £5,000 | www.citafareham.org | |
| C2U Gosport CIC | To fund running costs of the Helping Hands Food Store for a period of six months. | £11,089 | https://c2uuk.yolasite.com/ | |
| Acts of Kindness (AOK) | Acts of Kindness (AOK) will use the funding to essential white goods and smaller kitchen essential items to 130 vulnerable households over a nine-week period. | £14,125 | Acts of Kindness Community (Solent) | Neighbour |
| District | Organisation | Project summary | Awarded | Website |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hart & Rushmoor | Fleet Phoenix | To provide food parcels and tangible items (including fresh fruit, baby essentials, pre-loved school uniforms and hygiene products) to 75 households. These will be distributed over a 10 week period. | £3,150 | www.fleetphoenix.co.uk |
| Citizens Advice Rushmoor | To continue providing one day attendance per week, of a trained adviser, at Aldershot's Community Grub Hub (CGH) food bank, followed by two days of follow-up advice work with the clients. The adviser would provide guidance on budgeting, finances, and how to access other help to large numbers of service users during sessions, with more detailed advice for those who require it on the day and at appointments after. This will run for 17 weeks and benefit 12 households per week.
To continue providing additional hours to an existing experienced Nepali language adviser, to provide advice services targeted at this group. In addition to continuing the recently re-established weekly morning drop-in session at the Aldershot offices for elderly Nepali residents to visit in person and receive support. The funding would allow for 15 hours per week of additional staff time, across the 17 weeks until the end of September. |
£10,601 | www.citizensadvicerushmoor.org.uk | |
| Community Grub Hub CIC | To support up to 224 households on a weekly basis through the purchase of additional food to top-up donated food supplies that are distributed via the community grub hub, until the end of September. | £6,825 | Website (in development) - Facebook (CommunityGrubHub) and Instagram (communitygrubhub) | |
| The Vine Centre | To continue the food provision for the community cupboard that operates three days a week. The cupboard is already up and running and will benefit a further 500 households through this funding. | £10,500 | www.thevinecentre.org.uk |
| District | Organisation | Project summary | Awarded | Website |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Havant | Alfie's Arc | To provide 50 parcels a week for a period of 20 weeks. Each parcel will feed a family of four for over a week. Recipients will pay a contribution each parcel dependant on circumstances. 1,000 parcels will be given out over the period to households that are isolated, vulnerable, low income families or those of a low income and disabled people where they are not able to access the help through normal food banks, those who are homeless, rough sleepers and assisted living shelters throughout Hampshire. | £10,000 | https://www.facebook.com/share/EerUDVjW4HbWGRVZ/ |
| Leigh Park FoodBank | To purchase food to supplement donations to allow the continued stocking of the food bank. This will support around 650 households over the coming three months. | £4,920 | https://www.facebook.com/groups/481211536408733 | |
| One Foundation (Formerly Love Your Neighbour Foundation) | For the provision of food and essential items for the food bank for use until the end of September. This will benefit over 800 households. | £18,190 | www.onechurch.fyi | |
| Park Community School | To provide meals to family members and children under-five who are not eligible for HAF funding but will attend their family days in the school summer holidays. The grant will provide 80 additional meals a day for 16 days of the school summer holidays, in late July and August, in conjunction with the HAF programme.
To continue discretionary funding support for up to 120 households in Leigh Park with white goods, food, tangible items and clothing including shoes and coats. This will run over a 14 week period. To support MUNCH Community Pantry to stock and run the pantry – including the purchase of healthy options such as fruit and vegetables. Alongside this the pantry will supply emergency frozen meals to people residing in Bed and Breakfast accommodation. This will support up to 600 families, until the end of September. |
£44,948 | https://www.pcs.hants.sch.uk/ |
| District | Organisation | Project summary | Awarded | Website |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| New Forest | Ringwood Foodbank | For the provision of energy saving cooking devices, bedding, and clothing to 50 vulnerable families in financial need, until the end of September. | £8,000 | ringwood.foodbank.org.uk |
| Totton and Eling Community Association CIO | To supply 20 families with clothes, school uniform, nappies, toiletries and other essential items, over the summer and autumn. Families will be referred from their GP, the local schools and nurseries or via direct discussions. | £2,000 | http://www.taeca.compark.co.uk/ | |
| Waterside Ecumenical Projects AKA Waterside Foodbank | To provide a range of goods including slow cookers, air fryers, energy efficient kettles, electrically heated clothes dryers, bedding and warm clothing on a household by household basis. This is alongside emergency food boxes that provide three days of food. This will benefit up to 200 households until the end of September. | £21,000 | www.waterside.foodbank.org.uk | |
| Church of St Peter and St Paul | To purchase food which will be used to fund the meals that are provided at the financial and emotional support sessions for all the vulnerable families attending, over the summer months | £1,133.44 | N/A | |
| Totton and Eling Community Association CIO | Totton and Eling Community Association CIO will use the funding to supply 20 families with clothes, school uniform, nappies, toiletries and other essential items, over the summer and autumn. Families will be referred from their GP, the local schools and nurseries or via direct discussions. | £2,000 | Community Association (compark.co.uk) | |
| The Waterside Ecumenical Projects | The Waterside Ecumenical Projects will use the funding to purchase 300 insulated water bottles, for vulnerable children who have been referred through professional agencies. | £3,195 | www.waterside.foodbank.org.uk |
| District | Organisation | Project summary | Awarded | Website |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Test Valley | CAP Andover Debt Centre (part of the Lighthouse at Andover Parish) | To fund a Debt Coach to work two days a week to help increase support to those who are facing financial hardship due to debt crisis in the local area. Support to clients is to help them find a route out of debt through face to face meetings and providing a personalised budget which helps with long term sustainability of living within their means after their debts are sorted. This will be delivered until the end of September 2024. | £2,000 | https://www.andoverparish.org/lighthouse/ |
| Unity (Southern) Ltd | To support 50 vulnerable households, that have been referred though agencies such as Citizens Advice, Christians Against Poverty, with improving energy costs through boiler servicing or white good replacements. This will be completed by the end of September. | £10,000 | www.unityonline.org.uk | |
| ACE Andover Community Engage | To fund the continued running of the community pantry and fridge at Andover Clothing Exchange (ACE) in Andover. | £11,858 | https://andovercommunityengage.org/ | |
| Freedom Church - Freedom Centre and Romsey Foodbank | To run the foodbank that allows households to collect emergency food parcels and access the community fridge at the Freedom Centre. Families will also be able to access wrap-around services such as the in-house Citizens Advice. | £20,540 | https://www.freedomchurch.uk/freedomcentre | |
| YMCA Fairthorne Group - Andover Community Centre | To support approximately 42 households over the course of a 9-week period until the end of September 2024, via food parcel distribution programme. | £2,352 | https://ymca-fg.org/ | |
| Unity | Will use the funding for the continued running of the travelling pantry providing support to those struggling in three rural areas – Stockbridge, King Somborne and Lockerley. | £12,000 | www.unityonline.org.uk | |
| Andover Foodbank | Andover Foodbank will use the funding to provide food parcels to 20 vulnerable households for a 12-week period, until the end of September. The funding will focus on purchase of the protein rich foods such as meet, fish and vegetarian alternatives that are more infrequently donated. | £5,000 | https://andover.foodbank.org.uk | |
| Andover Food Partnership (AFP) | Andover Food Partnership (AFP) will use the funding for the ‘No food left behind’ project which delivers and distributes any food that would otherwise go to waste to organisations that support households at risk of food insecurity. Funds were be used for mileage costs, volunteer expenses and training and a part-time co-ordinator. This will run for six months and indirectly support up to 1,000 households. | £9,500 | Andover Food Partnership | food charity | |
| Romsey Family Support Group | Romsey Family Support Group will use the funding to purchase food vouchers for 25 vulnerable households that are known through the group. They will be delivered over a four-week period. | £2,523 | RFSG.org.uk - Romsey Family Support Group | |
| Unity | Unity will use the funding to provide up to 40 families with bespoke support including home essentials, hygiene/personal items and/or cooking essentials, as an extension of support via the travelling community pantry. | £1,200 | https://unityonline.org.uk |
| District | Organisation | Project summary | Awarded | Website |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rushmoor | The Vine Centre | To support 100 children, that are working currently with the centre and have been accessed as needing support, with lunch bags, that will be distributed from The Vine Centre every Tuesday during the summer school holidays. | £12,000 | www.thevinecentre.org.uk |
| District | Organisation | Project summary | Awarded | Website |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Winchester | Unit 12 Community Food Pantry | Unit 12 will use the funding to support the running costs of the pantry, including food provision. Alongside this a discretionary grant will be available for the pantry to use provide tangible items, such as cooking equipment and small white goods. This will fund the pantry for a further six months and support around 1,800 households. | £26,328 | https://www.unit-12.org/community-food-pantry |
| The Carroll Centre | The Carroll Centre will use the funding to offer family breakfast mornings alongside the community pantry. Families will be able to take home breakfast packs and knowledge of how to continue making healthy breakfasts that have been constructed to reduce food waste. This will benefit 200 vulnerable households, who have been referred via the community pantry, HAF and the on-site nursery. | £8,000 | Carroll Centre | Winchester |
| Multi-District | Organisation | Project summary | Awarded | Website |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| East Hampshire, Fareham & Gosport, Hart, Havant, New Forest, Rushmoor, Winchester | Home-Start Hampshire | To recruit and train volunteers to deliver group sessions where discussions will be held around home and money, provide guidance on budgeting and share ideas on how to make the guidance offered work in reality. At the sessions the trained staff will provide budgeting templates and some ideas for budget friendly, healthy family meals. This will run for 14 weeks. | £6,374.14 | www.home-starthampshire.org.uk |
| Eastleigh, New Forest, Test Valley | Baby Necessities | To provide essential items for infants and young children, such as clothing, blankets, toiletries, nappies, for up to 250 families facing challenging economic circumstances. Essential items will be distributed over the summer until the end of September. | £10,000 | www.babynecessities.co.uk, Facebook babynecessities1 |
| Eastleigh, Fareham, Gosport, New Forest and Winchester | Portsmouth City Council | Portsmouth City Council will use the fund to provide tenants in social housing in Leigh Park, Crookham, Waterlooville and Wecock Farm with £20,000 of food vouchers; £20,000 for white goods; £5,000 on 'other essential household items' and £5,000 for budgeting workshops and provide food vouchers to 300 tenants who attend, over a 12-week period. This project will be managed by Leigh Park Housing Office. | £50,000 | https://www.portsmouth.gov.uk |
| Basingstoke & Deane, Eastleigh | JG Tennis Coaching Ltd | JG Tennis Coaching Ltd will use the funding to provide additional holiday activity spaces during October half term, which will include a warm space and food support through a nutritious meal for attendees. The three schemes will run at Basingstoke Tennis Centre, Stoke Park Junior School and Boorley Green Community Centre. Five spaces will be available per day at each location (75 spaces in total). | £10,950 | www.jgtennis.co.uk |
| Basingstoke & Deane, Eastleigh | Westside Community Association | Westside Community Association will use the funding to support the continued running of the community pantry, including provision of additional food items, to bolster donated food stock. This will support 60 families per week for six months. Alongside the pantry will purchase white goods and tangible items to support 40 vulnerable households, according to identified needs. | £18,282.50 | https://westside-community-association.com/ |
| District | Organisation | Project summary | Awarded | Website |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hampshire-Wide | UKHarvest | To increase resourcing for the collection of surplus food and redistribute to projects within the community at no cost to the donator or the receiver. The funding will contribute to operating costs including fuel, a driver and a project manager & good resource. This will indirectly support up to 25,000 households, until the end of September. | £21,900 | www.ukharvest.org.uk/hampshire |
| Fellowship Educational Society | To purchase food parcels for 60 ethnic minority households, each of which will receive one parcel every three weeks for three months. On average each household has four family members so this will support around 240 total beneficiaries that have been previously identified or have applied via an application form. | £22,000 | N/A | |
| Sovereign Network Group | To provide crisis interventions including 150 emergency fuel vouchers, 40 bespoke energy packs, 34 white goods, 150 shopping vouchers, and 200 weeks of subsidised pantry membership, to support over 250 households. | £30,240 | www.sng.org.uk | |
| Woodsy's Pantry (Portchester & District Community Association) | To support the continued running of the community pantry, including provision of additional food items, to bolster donated food stock. | £12,644.88 | http://www.portchesterca.org.uk/ |
Updated details of support available in your neighbourhood through the community grants programme will be listed here as they become available – make sure to bookmark connect4communities.
For information on previous older community projects we’ve supported, some of which may still be running, please see Our work so far. Contact them directly to find out more.
connect4communities directory
Visit the connect4communities directory for local opportunities or support from charities and community organisations.