Become a Trusted Partner volunteer for the Hardship Grant Community Fund!

What is the Hardship Grant Community Fund?

After receiving cabinet approval in April 2025, the Household Support Fund Round 7 is being made available to ease the financial burdens faced by its vulnerable citizens living in Birmingham.

The Household Support Fund, provided by the Department for Work and Pensions, is a fixed amount of money available to the Local Authority to be used to support those households in most need, with essentials such as food, energy and essential goods and supplies, including water.

Birmingham Voluntary Service Council’s (BVSC) Hardship Grant Community Fund (HGCF), part of Birmingham City Council’s (BCC) wider Household Support Fund (HSF) activity, will be running until 31st March 2026.

BVSC will be distributing grants of up to £200 to Birmingham households, currently facing financial hardship, with the funds intended to help households with food costs and energy payments.

What is a Trusted Partner?

A Trusted Partner is an organisation that supports Birmingham residents and has access to the HGCF portal to complete online enquiries and applications on behalf of their existing clients. They form part of a network of more than 400 Trusted Partners across the city, enabling access to the HGCF for their clients.

Benefits of becoming a Trusted Partner for HGCF

Your organisation will have access to the HSF Portal, enabling your staff members to submit applications on behalf of your clients.

BVSC will provide training materials and tailored support for your organisation.

Opportunity to network with over 400 existing Trusted Partners on a weekly basis.

Who can become a Trusted Partner?

Your organisation must primarily support residents of Birmingham within one or more localities or city-wide.

Organisations must have the following policies: Safeguarding of Children, Safeguarding of Vulnerable Adults, Health & Safety, GDPR Data Protection, Equality, Diversity & Inclusion.

The organisation must be registered with the Charity Commission, Companies House, or the relevant governing body.

Examples can include schools, community organisations and faith-based organisations

How to become a Trusted Partner?

If your organisation would like to become a Trusted Partner, please send an email to [email protected] and we will send you a Registration Form.

Once completed and accepted, we will start processing your application.*

*All successfully registered Trusted Partners will have to adhere to policy guidelines.

Due to the delivery model of the HGCF scheme, we must emphasise BVSC are unable to provide remuneration to Trusted Partners who volunteer to assist with the scheme, but can offer support in the form of guidance and training, handling referrals to be taken by Lead Localities and hosting weekly Q & A sessions to resolve queries.

BVSC sincerely values the network of community organisations supporting the HGCF scheme, as they provide essential assistance to Birmingham's residents. If a community organisation feels overwhelmed by its involvement, it can contact BVSC where the level of voluntary participation can be reassessed.

If you want to find out more on how to apply and further details, please visit the link below:

Click Here

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