For Individual Applicants
- Confirm that you live within the area of benefit of the charity to whom you are applying. Check your postcode and street using our Postcode Checker and Map.
- Confirm that the items of furniture or white goods that you wish to apply for are listed on our guideline items list on the How To Apply page, and that your prices are in line with our guideline prices.
- Confirm that you have a third party professional supporting organisation in place before you complete the application form. A third party supporting organisation can be a charity, NHS, Hackney Council, employer, company, housing provider, or GP surgery. If you do not have a suitable third party supporting organisation, then please contact the East End Citizens Advice Bureau on 020 8525 6350 and ask them if they would be willing to be your third party.
- Complete the Individual Application Form, completing all of the fields on the form, and then submit the form to us.
For Third Party Supporting Organisations to Individual Applicants
1. Confirm that the Applicant lives within the relevant Area of Benefit
Use the Postcode Tracker and also check with our Map, to determine which of the three areas of benefit they live within. If the applicant lives outside of the three areas marked on our map, then they are ineligible to apply.
If you need further information, then please contact us at: [email protected]
2. Support the Applicant to complete the Individual Grant Application Form
Support the applicant to complete all of the fields on the individual application form. The individual application form can be found on the How to Apply page.
Please ensure that all of the fields are completed on the form, including:
- Name and date of birth of the applicant’s partner (as applicable)
- Children’s names, dates of birth, and any financial contributions they make (as applicable)
- Weekly income and benefits, plus partner’s weekly income and benefits (as applicable)
- Details of Housing Benefit, Council Tax Benefit and heating allowance
- Does the applicant have any savings or debts
- Information about the applicant’s current health (as applicable)
- Whether they have applied to the Discretionary Crisis Support Fund
- Name of third party referring agency, contact name, address, email, and phone number
- Names of two separate professional referees, including their job roles, addresses, emails, and phone numbers e.g. religious leader, GP, support worker, healthcare professional, housing provider, local Councillor, charity, employer etc. The referees must not be related to the applicant.
An applicant may complete the application form independently on their own, provided they have first obtained your consent to be their third party, and have completed all the fields on the form.
3. Provide the following additional Supporting Documents
In addition to completing and submitting the individual application form, we require the following additional documentation:
- At least one piece of evidence of the applicant’s current home address e.g. utility bill, statement or tenancy or license agreement.
- A reference letter from you as the Third Party Supporting Organisation, on your headed paper, confirming the applicant’s current circumstances of hardship and your relationship to them.
- Web links to the cost of each individual item that the applicant is applying for e.g. links to pages in an online stores catalogue. If specialist items are applied for then a written quotation must also be provided from the company e.g. carpets, flooring, etc.
You can either attach these documents onto the online application form, or email them separately to us at: [email protected] We will then contact you if we should need any further information.
4. Confirm Payment information in the event of a grant being awarded
Please confirm that you are able to accept a grant payment into your own organisation’s bank account, in the event of an Individual Grant being awarded. Grants are normally paid by BACS payment (in which case we would ask you to complete a BACS form and provide one proof of your bank account), or by cheque (only if your organisation is unable to accept a BACS payment).
5. Complete and return an Individual Grant Evaluation Form
If the individual applicant has been awarded a grant, then when we email you confirmation of the grant award, we will attach a blank Individual Grant Evaluation Form. We will also inform you of what date we require the completed evaluation form to be returned to us by.
It is your responsibility to complete the evaluation form, having spoken to the applicant and received any receipts of purchase that they have.
For Organisations and Charities
All projects must either be delivered in a venue within the area of benefit of the relevant charity to whom you are applying, or you must evidence that at least some of the people who are attending your project must be living within the area of benefit of the relevant charity.
All applications must be made to the relevant charity on the Project Application Form, and all of the fields on the form must be completed. Strategic grant applications are also made using the Project Application Form, but please state that it is a strategic application within the text on the form.
The priority areas whom the charities seek to support are: socially isolated elderly, individuals and families with no recourse to public fund, advice and support organisations, and support services to young people. Applications would also be expected to fall within one of these main categories:
- Projects that relieve poverty
- Projects for advancement in life
- Projects that are educational in its broadest sense
- Projects that provide services and opportunities to individuals living in relevant charity’s area of benefit
- Organisations providing organised breaks for families and children
Your application should be endorsed by two referees who know the work of the organisation. These referees should be totally independent of the organisation and should not be a relative or partner. Suitable referees include prominent members of our local community, other charities, local councillors etc.
Organisations must attach a copy their latest annual report and accounts and a detailed project budget, plus one Reference letter form one of their referees, on that organisation’s headed paper.
