• North Bristol Advice Centre provides free support, on matters including welfare benefits, debt advice and other financial matters.

• Citizens Advice Bristol provides free advice on issues such as housing and debt.

• St Paul’s Advice Centre offers support on issues such as money, employment and immigration.

• Thanks to funding from the West of England Combined Authority, Clean Slate is offering free online one-to-one guidance on income maximisation, money management and financial resilience for people living in Bristol, Bath & North East Somerset and South Gloucestershire. You can sign-up here.

• Talking Money provides advice about debt and money management.

• The Community Access Support Service has compiled a list of key services offering mental health support in Bristol.

• The charity Womankind offers professional counselling, group psychotherapy, befriending and a helpline service that are all free to women who are on low incomes and are unable to pay to get support.

• Bristol Wellbeing College provides a wide range of free workshops, courses and weekly cafes to help people improve their wellbeing.

Local support:

• The WHAM project offers advice on energy saving measures, accessing grants and budgeting.

• The Bright Green Homes project can support eligible Bristol residents to install energy saving measures to their home, including cavity wall insulation.

• Bristol Emergency Payment is a one-off emergency supply of supermarket vouchers that can be used to pay for food, clothing and essentials.

• Baby Bank Network provides free essentials for babies, including second-hand baby clothes, cots, prams and toys.

Other support:

• Dogs Trust is offering support for veterinary fees for dog owners who are experiencing homelessness.

Government assistance:
(Note: This webpage gives an overview of the schemes offered by the Government.)

• All households will receive a non-repayable one-off discount of £400 to help with their energy bills via the Energy Bills Support Scheme. If you have a traditional prepayment meter, this support will be provided via vouchers that will be sent to you by post, email or text message. Vouchers are valid for 90 days and give a discount to the value of £66 in October and November, and £67 every month from December to March 2023 when redeemed from Post Offices or PayPoint stores. If you are on a traditional prepayment meter and do not receive your vouchers, please contact your energy supplier to check your contact details are up to date.

• You may qualify for the Warm Homes Discount, in which £150 is deducted from your electricity bill for winter 2022-2023.

• You may be entitled to a Cold Weather Payment. You can apply if the average temperature in your area is recorded as, or forecast to be, 0 degrees Celsius or less for at least 7 consecutive days. You would receive £25 for each day.

Local support:

• Family Action runs Food On Our Doorstep (FOOD) clubs to provide -quality food at a low cost, while also reducing food waste. It costs just £1 a year for family membership. Once a family has joined, they can buy a bag of tasty food items every week worth around £10-£15 for just a fraction of the price. Families must live or work within approximately 15 minutes of a club. In Bristol North West, there’s a club operating out of The Vench in Lockleaze on Tuesday mornings (9:30am-11:30am).

• FoodCycle offers a free 3-course vegetarian meal on a Wednesday evening in Easton and on a Saturday lunchtime in Barton Hill.

• Email Feeding Bristol to find out what community services are available in your area.

• North Bristol Foodbank

• North West Bristol Foodbank

Other support:

• For a £1.00 membership fee per family to Food Clubs, you can buy a bag of food each week for £3.50 that would normally be worth approximately £10.00-15.00.

• The University of Bristol has a range of hardship funds available to its students.

• The University of the West of England provides grants of up to £500 to help students with unexpected payments.

• If you were born on or before 1956 and also meet other criteria, you could be entitled to a Winter Fuel Payment of £250-£600 to help pay your heating bills.

• If you’re entitled to a Winter Fuel Payment, you will get an extra £300 Pensioner Cost of Living Payment for your household.