Investigate council help schemes
Councils run a number of schemes to help struggling residents with bills and essentials.
Under the Household Support Scheme, families can get cash payments and vouchers to help them get by.
A new £421million pot of cash will be dished out among councils, and it will run from October this year until March next year.
Each council decides how to dish out the help, and what support is available.
To see what help is on offer in your area, contact your local council – you can find out who yours is by using the gov.uk authority tool checker.
There’s also welfare assistance schemes, although not all councils have one – and the help available varies so does the eligibility criteria.
For instance, last year in East Riding of Yorkshire, you could get up to £1,000 to cover the cost of food, energy, bills and rent.
