The parish council receives information about grants people can apply for to help with their heating and other domestic costs.
A summary of these is set out below with the relevant website links.
Free School Meal Voucher Support: Eligible families receiving benefits related free school meals will receive voucher support direct from their eligible child/children’s school. Food vouchers will be available to FSM (Free School Meal) eligible children for the October/Christmas/February/Easter school holiday periods = 6 weeks at £10 per week per eligible Child, plus an additional one off £40 supermarket food voucher at Christmas; with plans to distribute these vouchers currently underway. Any queries concerning eligibility, accessing vouchers or general enquiries made in this regard should be directed to the Free School Meal team FreeSchoolMeals@kent.gov.uk.
Pension Credit and Winter Fuel Payments
Currently many people eligible to claim are not receiving pension credit, which determines who receives Winter Fuel Payments.
Check your eligibility at https://www.gov.uk/pension-credit-calculator
General information about Pension Credit is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/pension-credit-toolkit/pension-credit-toolkit-advice-and-guidance-for-stakeholders
Household Support Fund – Summer Food Voucher Scheme
Household Support Fund funding for round 7 will run from April 2025 until March 2026. The scheme will be delivered from June to August and will offer an online public application route that enables individual self-referral, or professional referrals on behalf of individuals, to be made.
The Summer scheme will offer food voucher only support, to the value of £90. A winter scheme will follow later in the year.
The Summer Food support scheme will open for applications from 12pm Tue 24 June 2025.The scheme is expected to close at 12pm on Tuesday 26 August 2025 but may close earlier if all the available HSF funds are allocated, therefore early application is strongly advised.
Applicants must
• be Aged16+
• be a Kent Resident, permanently living within one of the 12 local authorities covered by Kent County Council
• be in receipt of a means tested benefit, or where a means-tested benefit is not being received a household income before tax of £33,000 per year or less
• not be eligible for Free School Meals HSF support*
Apply for the Household Support Fund from 24 June on the following link:
Household Support Fund – Kent County Council
For any additional queries regarding this scheme, please contact kcc-hsffoodandenergysupport@kent.gov.uk or via 03000 412424
Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council has secured government funding from the Home Upgrade Grant scheme, specifically designed to improve the energy efficiency of homes without gas central heating. Details regarding the scheme including upgrades available, eligibility criteria and contact details for the scheme can be found below.
The Home Upgrade Grant scheme helps to fund home energy improvements for homeowners and private rented tenants struggling with energy bills.
What you could get free includes*
Solar panels
- Loft insulation
- Cavity wall insulation
- Solid/external wall insulation
- Internal wall insulation
- Underfloor insulation
- An air source heat pump or efficient electric heating
- Smart heating controls
- Low energy lighting
- Draught proofing
All installed at no cost to you, potentially reducing your energy bills and making your home warmer.
Here’s what you need to qualify:
✓ Own your home or rent your home from a private landlord
✓ Have an annual household income below £36,000 OR receive means-tested benefits
✓ Currently use an alternative heating source (oil, LPG, electric, coal, or wood)
✓ Have an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) rating of D, E, F, or G (our delivery partner E.ON can help determine this)
How to Apply
Visit eonenergy.com/hug, or call the E.ON Advice Team on 0333 202 4820 (8am to 6pm, Monday to Friday) and quote ‘Tonbridge & Malling HUG’ to get started.
The scheme finishes on 31 March 2025
Other grants
https://www.tmbc.gov.uk/cost-of-living
This offers information on:
- Help paying bills
- Help with food
- Help with housing
- Help saving energy
- Household support fund
You can also check via https://www.gov.uk
- Your benefit entitlement
- Search for grants
- Help for households
- One-off payments from government
- Money Helper UK
Click on the relevant one that interests you and it takes you to a separate page specifically for that topic (help with food, help housing, help with energy, and so on)
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/cost-of-living-payment
This Government website offers information on:
- Low income benefits and tax credits Cost of Living Payment eligibility
- Payment dates for low income benefits and tax credits Cost of Living Payment
- Disability Cost of Living Payment eligibility
- Payment dates for the Disability Cost of Living Payment
- Find out how to report a missing Cost of Living Payment
- Pensioner Cost of Living Payment
- 2022 Cost of Living Payments
- Other help
Again, click on the relevant one that interests you and it takes you to a separate page specifically for that topic (Low income benefits and tax credits, Cost of Living Payment eligibility, Pensioner Cost of Living Payments, Disability Cost of Living Payment eligibility, and so on).
Kent County Council
For Financial Hardship queries there is a KCC email address, HelpingHands@kent.gov.uk, and a web link, https://www.kent.gov.uk/leisure-and-community/cost-of-living-support
There are three areas you can find out information on:
- Urgent help and support: for people in crisis there are funds and support you can access
- Reducing your energy bills: getting advice on how to reduce energy use and who to contact for help paying bills
- Check benefits eligibility: even if you’ve never claimed, you use the calculator to check what you are entitled to
General help line for support and help with money is Kent Together on 03000 41 92 92
General help page for support from KCC
https://www.kent.gov.uk/social-care-and-health/adult-social-care/paying-for-care/benefits/household-support-fund
https://grants-search.turn2us.org.uk
A website devoted to helping you find out the range of grants on offer.
The grants come from registered charitable organisations across the UK – they give grants to assist people in need. Grants are given to people based on their personal circumstances, for example a job you’ve worked at or a health condition you may have.
Everyone can apply for a grant and many charities will help people who cannot claim welfare benefits because of their status in the UK. There is no guarantee you will get a grant, but it can show what you could apply for.
Each fund’s payment methods will be specific to them. Grants can be given as money, products or services that don’t have to be paid back. Each fund has a different timeframe. This can range anywhere from 5 days to 3 months.