The cost of living crisis means people across the UK are struggling to make ends meet – but help IS available. You can be part of the solution by spreading the word.
Here are downloadable resources & links for you to use with anyone you meet, accurate as of December 2024.
If you want to help people, a great place to start is this presentation from the Central England Law Centre & Feeding Coventry: How to spot & assist someone who may need help.
Food and warmth
- Where to get hot meals & food parcels in Coventry
- Social supermarkets in Coventry. These are membership supermarkets in community centres & churches. Members pay around £7 and receive about £30-£40 of food.
- Warm spaces in Coventry & beyond.
- Clothing Coventry offers free parcels of clothes.
- Feeding Coventry’s leaflet for food & help.
Financial help
There are lots of benefits & grants available for individuals. However, many people don’t know how to claim them – or even that they exist.
- How to help when someone you meet is worried about money: a straightforward guide from the Central England Law Centre.
- You can help people apply for direct donations via Acts 435.
- Small trusts offer grants for people in need. Examples include Fund for Human Need (for anyone), Smallwood Trust (for women), Soothern & Craner (for girls / young women in Coventry), The Samuel Smith’s & Spencer’s charity (for older people in Coventry / Bedworth).
- Pensioners can apply for Pension Credit – £1.7 billion is unclaimed each year. Pension Credit unlocks various other support for pensioners in need.
Mental health support
Mental health support is vital in difficult times.
- How to set up a mental health support group. This guide draws from from what we at HOPE Coventry have learned through setting up and running mental health support groups.
- Secular telephone counselling is available from letskeeptalking.co.uk; Christian telephone support is available via Premier Lifeline. In-person or Zoom counselling is offered in Coventry by The Light House.
- Offer a Kintsugi Hope course in your church.
More help within Coventry and beyond
- 1 page printable fact sheet for financial help that’s available
- Other charities in Coventry & Warwickshire who can help
- Coventry Council’s Cost of Living page details lots of support available through them.
- Diocese of Coventry advice group for churches helps churches that are struggling to navigate the pressures from rising costs.
- Cut energy use in your church or community building – advice from the Diocese of Coventry.
Donate to help others
There are many ways you can invest or donate to help people who are struggling currently. Here’s two suggestions:
- Hope into Action: Coventry house the homeless in Coventry & Warwickshire. They support churches & individuals to invest their funds in property. The properties are rented out to homeless people or people at risk of homelessness. You retain ownership of your investment.
- Christians Against Poverty Coventry offer budgeting skills, emotional support & freedom from debt to families in need.
Need more information?
Please get in touch if you need further advice or information about the Cost of Living crisis and the support available. We’ll do our best to help you.