Essential Living Fund Guidance

We have no restriction on who we can help as long as they are legally resident in the UK. This means we can help individuals, couples and families.

Our funds are limited, so we may not be able to help everyone who requests support, even if they are eligible.

Our grants help people change their lives for the better, enabling those in need of financial support cope when things get tough, manage better day-to-day and build a stronger future.

We only accept applications from support workers. If you are an individual requiring support, please see the section below called  "who can submit an application".

Through our Essential Living Fund, we provide small grants for household items and essential clothing.

You may apply for up to three items, however it is unlikely we will be able to help with all three and in most cases we are only able to assist with one item. Please find below the items we can routinely fund, those we can fund in exceptional cases and those where we are unable to help.

Items routinely considered:

• Baby needs (equipment and clothing)
• Beds, mattresses and bedding (including sofa beds)
• Clothing and school uniforms
• Cookers
• Fridges, freezers or fridge-freezers
• Washing machines
• Furniture

Items considered where additional circumstances apply (see brackets):

• Washer-dryers or tumble-dryers (where there is a health, disability or where there is currently no sufficient facility/space to dry clothing)
• Flooring (where there is a mobility or disability issue, children aged 4 and under residing in the household, or the current flooring presents a trip hazard)
• TV Licence (where there is evidence of social isolation)

Requests where we are unable to help:

• Heating oil, vocational training/materials/tools, driving lessons/test, televisions, computers, tablets, ipads, mobile phones, household repairs, skip hire, decorating, removal costs, holidays/respite, childcare costs, bills, debts, rent deposits/arrears, council tax arrears, debt relief order/bankruptcy fees, food or subsistence.

Reasons why we may not be able to assist:

• The individual, couple or family have received a previous grant from us within the last three years
• The request is for something that is outside the range of items we can help with (see above)
• The individual, couple or family do not meet the criteria for exceptional circumstances (see above)
• We have reached our grants budget and have no further funds to allocate.

We are able to provide one grant per applicant/family, once every three years.

From Monday 20th March 2023

We are unable to register any new organisations, or additional branches of registered organisations, for Essential Living Fund grants.

However, if your organisation/branch is already registered, you may still apply for an individual user account by following the instructions shown here

We know that by working with support workers from frontline agencies, people are able to receive a wider range of assistance. For that reason, we only accept applications from support workers. If you are an individual requiring support, you may be able to receive assistance from:

• A housing support officer, if you live in housing association or local authority housing
• An advice worker at Citizens Advice, you can use this search link to find your local branch
• A voluntary organisation or local authority officer who is already helping you

If any of these organisations is not already registered with us, they will need to register their organisation and then the support worker who will make the application. Further guidance on registering an organisation and support worker can be found here.

Read more about our new programme, The Flexible Frontline Fund here

Because we consider applications for almost anyone in financial need, we want to ensure that our support only goes to those who cannot be helped by others. For that reason, please apply to other funders before applying to us.

Other funders include:

• Local Welfare Schemes (these are funds administered by local councils)
• Occupational charities (focused on particular jobs such as retail, hospitality, accountancy)
• Medical charities
• Local charities
• Those helping specific applicants e.g. children or women

1. Check with your local authority who may have a Local Welfare Scheme or fund.

2. Identify other charitable funders by using the Turn2Us grants search tool.

If you have applied to your local welfare scheme or a charity, please wait for the decision before applying to us for the same request. If you applied and a grant was not offered, please outline this in the ‘Grant Funding’ section of our application form. If you do not include this information, it could either delay the application or result in the application being rejected (declined for funding).

From Monday 20th March 2023

We are unable to register any new organisations, or additional branches of registered organisations, for Essential Living Fund grants.

However, if your organisation/branch is already registered, you may still apply for an individual user account by following the instructions shown here

• An organisation needs to operate in England, Wales, Northern Ireland or Scotland.
• They must be either a statutory organisation, charity, social enterprise, co-operative or community benefit society providing or funding support services such as: health or social care, rehabilitation, advice or advocacy services, or training and associated support;
  or
• A private company contracted by a statutory organisation to provide the support services outlined above.
• They must either have a turnover of more than £25,000 per annum (the threshold over which an organisation must produce independently examined accounts)
  or
• Where an organisation has a turnover of less than £25k, they must provide a reference from a statutory body and a set of their latest accounts. 
• If a charity, they must be registered with the Charity Commission.  If a housing association, they must be registered with the Regulator of Social Housing.
• The organisation must have a bank account in its own name and be able to bank and administer grants on our behalf. Payments will only be made to the support organisation, we cannot make the payment to the person receiving the grant.

Unfortunately, we are unable to accept applications from your organisation if they do not meet these criteria. 

From Monday 20th March 2023

We are unable to register any new organisations, or additional branches of registered organisations, for Essential Living Fund grants.

However, if your organisation/branch is already registered, you may still apply for an individual user account by following the instructions shown here

If the branch of the agency/organisation where you are based is not already registered on GrantsPlus, it will need to be registered before a support worker can register as a system user and submit grant applications.

The first person to register their branch/agency becomes by default the ‘authorising contact’ This is the person who approves other colleagues when they apply to register as system users. Ideally, this should be a senior member of staff, such as a line manager or team leader. The ‘authorising contact’ can be changed to a different member of staff at any time, as long as they are already registered on GrantsPlus as a user. If you need to change the ‘authorising contact’ please email us at: grants@glasspool.org.uk

Steps

1. Go to https://www.grantsplus.org.uk/ click ‘Register’, select ‘user at an agency’
2. In the box that asks for the agency, type the name of your agency e.g. ‘Glasspool Charity Trust’
3. If the branch/office at which you are based is not already registered on GrantsPlus you will need to type in the name of the agency and then click the ‘NEW’ button (as shown in the screen shot below). Please do not select the head office address.
   
4. You then need to fill in:

   1. Your agency’s details (Please only select 'Charity/CIO/CIC' from the list if you are a charity and no other option applies.)

   2. Your personal details (i.e. name, dept., job title etc.)

   3. Your individual work email address (this cannot be a shared email address due to GDPR)

   4. A password (known only to you)

   The email address and password you choose will be your log-in details to access your account on GrantsPlus, so please make a note of the password you choose.
5. Then click:
   

Within 10 minutes you will receive three emails containing links you will need to approve before you complete your registration. Once they have been approved, your registration will be complete and you will be able to log into, create and submit applications on GrantsPlus.

Please email us at grants@glasspool.org.uk if you require further help to register.

If your organisation is not registered with us please see Register your agency/organisation on GrantsPlus (our online grants application system)

From Monday 20th March 2023

We are unable to register any new organisations, or additional branches of registered organisations, for Essential Living Fund grants.

However, if your organisation/branch is already registered, you may still apply for an individual user account by following the instructions shown below:

Steps

1. Go to https://www.grantsplus.org.uk/ and click ‘Register’, select ‘user at an agency’.

2. In the box that asks for the agency, type your agency’s name. As you type you should see it ‘pop up’ in the drop-down box. Please make sure this is the branch/office where you are based (and not your head office).

3. Click on the ‘pop up’ (which is blue – see screen grab below). Make sure you select the ‘pop up’ of your agency (don’t click ‘New’ or anywhere else on the screen) then just scroll down the page. You will see that it has automatically included your agency details (which have already been added to GrantsPlus).
   

4. You then need to fill in your personal details (i.e. name, dept., job title etc.):
   1. your individual work email address (this cannot be a shared email address due to GDPR)
   2. a password (known only to you)
   The email address and the password you choose will be your log-in details for accessing your account on GrantsPlus so please make a note of the password.
5. Then click:
   
   Within 10 minutes you and the authorising contact for your agency branch/office will receive an email containing a link. You will both need to approve the link within the email request in order to complete your registration. The link you receive to confirm your email address will also give the name of the authorising contact for your agency. Once approval has been made, your registration will be complete and you will be able to log on to and create/submit applications on GrantsPlus.

Please email us at grants@glasspool.org.uk if you require further help to register.

Please do not make an application to us where the person/family you are supporting is due to move to a different property or has a move date sometime in the future.  Please only submit applications when the move has already taken place.

This is so that our limited funding is used for the people requiring support at the time when they need it the most.  

We are not able to consider an application where someone is about to move / due to move / has a move date some time in the future.

1. Grant funding/external support
   Our funding is for those who cannot receive support from other funders. Please apply to statutory and other charitable funders before making an application to Glasspool as this enables us to target our funds to those who are unable to receive support from others. Information about other funders can be found on the Turn2Us’ grants database: https://grants-search.turn2us.org.uk/
2. Consent form
   Please make sure our data-sharing consent form has been completed correctly. It needs to have been either signed by the person requiring support and uploaded to the application; or their verbal consent must have been obtained and recorded on the consent form by the support worker submitting the application. The date consent was given is very important and must be recorded on the consent form in either case.  Guidance on our consent procedures can be found on our website: https://www.glasspool.org.uk/grants/consent-procedures
3. All household members
   Please make sure you have entered ALL members of the household (adults and children) on the application form. We require this information to ensure the application is eligible and if we can approve a grant, the size of item we can offer. It also helps us to monitor the impact of our grants. Applications where this information is not present will be set back to new and will require submitting again, please ensure this information is complete to avoid delay in the assessment of your application.
4. Address and contact details of the person requiring a grant
   Please check that you entered the correct address and telephone number for the person you are supporting on the application. If the person you are supporting is due to move, please make sure you have entered the client’s NEW address on the application. Use the postcode checker facility to double-check that the address you have entered matches the postcode. Please also include the date your client is due to move within the application.
5. Employment history
   The person you are supporting may not currently be working, but we ask for any employment history as there may be an occupational funder we can suggest that may be able to provide assistance/funding.

Logging in

To log in to GrantsPlus to make or check the progress of an application, you will need your registration email address and password.

Password Reset

If you can’t remember your password, enter your registration email address and click the red ‘Password Reset’ button found in the log in box. You will then be sent a password reset email.

Dashboard

Once you have logged in you will be taken to your dashboard. The icons show the various stages of your application. Click an icon and you will be taken to those applications.

+ Create New Application

This will start a new blank application for you to complete. The application form uses a wizard to take you through the process. As you complete each section, you will be taken to the next one.

Summary Details Section. This will appear once you have saved your application for the first time. This page cannot be edited. It shows a summary of the applicant’s details and the needs being requested. This information is taken from those sections of the application.

Application – My Applications

This will take you to all of your applications that have not been concluded, regardless of their status (i.e. ‘New’; ‘Further info requested’; ‘Offers issued’ etc.)

This will take you to a list of all your applications.

Applications – Offers Issued

This will take you to your applications where a grant offer has been made. You will need to review and press the ‘Accept’ button to confirm the offer if suitable. If not suitable, you will need to send us a message via the ‘Communication’s link’

Applications – Further Info

This will take you to your applications where we have requested additional information. The information that we have requested can be viewed from the ‘Submit Application’ page of the application.

Applications – Conditional

This will take you to your applications where we will offer a grant, but there is a condition that is required before the offer can be made.

Applications – New

This will take you to your incomplete applications, ones you have started but not yet submitted.

Applications – Submitted

This will take you to your applications that have been submitted for assessment.

Please make sure you add the details and information of all members of the household to the application. This is anyone who lives at this address (overnight) for the majority of the time. This includes husband, wife, partner, children, carer, friend or flat mate etc.

Data Protection Policy

To make an application, you first need to confirm that you have understood and adhere to our data protection policy. The tick box will need to be ticked before proceeding. If you see an error message saying ‘Data Protection – Data Protection Policy must be confirmed’ you will need to tick the statement box. The same applies for the UK Residency tick box.

Information required

Applicants section

• Personal details: address and contact details (main applicant)
  The address details will only need to be entered once, regardless of how many members there are in the household. Please check that the postcode and full address match using the postcode checker to prevent delays. If the person you are supporting is moving home, please provide us with the moving date and address of the new home. Click the ‘Save’ button.
• Once you have clicked the ‘Save’ button you can add more household members by clicking ‘+Add Person’ to add their personal details. Press the ‘Save’ button after each addition.
• Full names/dates of birth/employment status/ethnicity (we need the details of all members of the household to enable us to assess eligibility and if a grant is approved, the size of the item we can offer).
• Current employment/employment history (all adult members).
• Upload completed consent form – please see consent guidance here

Once you have finished, click ‘Save & Continue’ to move to the next section.

Please fill in the first page of the application and press the ‘Save’ button. You will then be able to
upload the consent form.

Household Finances Section

• Household finances (all members) weekly or monthly income & expenditure (for household combined). This includes any paid employment; benefits; debts; savings etc.
• If your client does not receive any income, then select the reason from the ‘No income reason’ dropdown menu.
• Depending on the income selected this section may or may not appear. If this section appears then all expenditure should be entered, including, if applicable, how your client spends their disability benefit.
• Please list all of your client’s debts; we may be able to provide you with suggestions that may help your client with their debts. If your client’s debt is greater than 10% of their total income, we will ask how they are managing their debts.
• For any of the above sections, whenever ‘other’ is selected from the dropdown as an option, then other details must be included.
• If the client has a surplus after all expenditure has been taken into account, please provide an explanation. If your client has savings, please give the amount and reasons.

Once you have finished, click ‘Save & Continue’ to move to the next section.

Presenting Issues Section

• Presenting issues and the person within the household the issue applies to can be selected from a list in a dropdown menu (maximum three presenting issues)

Once you have finished, click ‘Save & Continue’ to move to the next section.

Needs Section

• The item/request that the person you are supporting requires can be selected from a list in a dropdown menu (maximum three items/requests can be selected). Please note that we can only consider helping with one item/request and the priority item/request should be entered in the ‘First’ field.

Once you have finished, click ‘Save & Continue’ to move to the next section.

Needs Questionnaire Section

This is where you will be prompted to answer questions about the item you are requesting:

• If a cooker, is built-in or freestanding required? Does the cooker need to be gas or electric?
• If a washing machine, is there plumbing in place for it to be connected to?
• Is there an old appliance to be removed/recycled?
• Why is the person you are supporting in need of this item/request?

Once you have answered the last question and click ‘ok’, you will move to the next section.

Statutory Questionnaire Section

This is where you will be prompted to answer questions such as:

• Have you applied to your area’s Local Welfare Scheme?
• Is there/has there been any Social Services/other statutory organisation involvement?
• Is the person you are supporting seeking asylum or presenting as a refugee?

Once you have answered the last question and click ‘ok’, you will move to the next section.

Support Offered Section

• What support are you (your organisation) offering the person you are supporting? (select from  the dropdown menu)

Once you have finished, click ‘Save & Continue’ to move to the next section

Grant Funding Section

• Please provide details of other grant makers, charities, benevolent funds etc. you have applied to for financial assistance and their decision (select from the dropdown menu)

Once you have finished, click ‘Save & Continue’ to move to the next section.

Additional Support Section

• Are any other organisations involved in this case? i.e. any other assistance the person you are supporting may be receiving from other organisations for health, housing, debt, counselling, family issues etc. (select from the dropdown menu)

Once you have finished, click ‘Save & Continue’ to move to the next section.

Outcomes Section

• What difference will our grant make to the person/family you are supporting?
• Outcome and the person within the household that the outcome applies to can be selected from a list in a dropdown menu (maximum three outcomes)

Once you have finished, click ‘Save & Continue’ to move to the next section.

Additional Info Section

• Please use this box to enter additional information that does not appear elsewhere in your application. To comply with data protection legislation, only provide us with enough information to enable us to make a funding decision. For example, it may be relevant for us to know that the person you are supporting has a mental health condition, but not details about why this condition developed; or we may need to know that a client has moved to new accommodation as a result of domestic violence, but not the details of the domestic abuse.

Once you have finished, click ‘Save & Continue’ to move to the next section.

Submit Application

Please press the ‘Submit’ button. Shortly afterwards you will receive an automated email from GrantsPlus acknowledging receipt of your application.

Please do not make an application to us where the person/family you are supporting is due to move to a different property or has a move date sometime in the future.  Please only submit applications when the move has already taken place. This is so that our limited funding is used for the people requiring support at the time when they need it the most.  

We are not able to consider an application where someone is about to move / due to move / has a move date some time in the future.

If the person you are supporting is living in temporary accommodation and likely to be there for some considerable time, please let us know how long the person expects to be living in the temporary home and if a grant was offered, whether they would be able to take the item with them?

If you submit an application that has incomplete consent from the person you are supporting we would be unable to assess the application, and will revert the application back to 'new' status. You may not be able to submit the application if we have received as many applications as we can fund for that week. Please check GrantsPlus regularly to see if we are accepting new applications.

If we need further information you will be sent an email notification and a link that takes you to the specific application and to the relevant section on the form.

If you don’t have the link, you can view this information request by opening the application and clicking the ‘Submit Application’ link under SECTIONS, on the right-hand side of the screen. Further Information required will be here. Please amend any sections of the form as necessary and ‘save’ to update the form. Then return to the ‘Submit Application’ page to add your reply in the box. Finally, click the 'Submit' button to resubmit the application and your reply back to us. 

Reasons why we might ask for further information:

• You haven’t entered the details of all members of the household.
• You haven’t entered the employment history of adults in the household.
• You have stated that the home does not have plumbing for a washing machine or you have requested a cooker but stated that there is no active connection for a cooker of that type (this is needed before we can make an offer).
• The person requesting an item is in deficit each week and you have requested a washer-dryer or tumble-dryer (as these are very expensive to run we would need confirmation that the item is affordable).
• The address is not showing on a postcode finder search (this could mean the address or postcode (or both) are incorrect and lead to a failed delivery of an item or the item being delivered to the wrong person).

How can I change the need requested BEFORE it has been assessed by the Grants Team?

1. Go to the application and click the ‘Submit Application’ link under SECTIONS list on the right-hand side of the screen. Then click the ‘recall’ button.
2. Then go to the ‘Needs’ section using the SECTIONS list on the right-hand side of the screen
3. Select the new need and click ‘Save & Continue’ to go through to the ‘Needs Questionnaire’ section. Once you have answered all the questions, go back to the ‘Submit Application’ section and click the ‘Submit’ button. Your application will then go back to the Grants Team for assessment.

How can I change the need requested AFTER it has been assessed by the Grants Team?

Please send us a message via the ‘View Communications’ section located under ‘Tools’ menu.

How can I change the delivery address?

Please send us a message via the ‘View Communications’ section located under ‘Tools’ menu.

If we haven’t yet been in contact with you:

1. Go to the application and click the ‘Submit Application’ link under SECTIONS list on the right-hand side of the screen. Then click the ‘recall’ button.
2. Then go to the ‘Applicants’ section using the SECTIONS list on the right-hand side of the screen.
3. Enter the new details and click ‘Save & Continue’.
4. Go back to the ‘Submit Application’ section and click the ‘Submit’ button. Your application will then go back to the Grants Team for assessment.

If we have been corresponding with you about the application (and may have already ordered the item) please send us a message via the ‘View Communications’ section located under ‘Tools’ menu.

Offers

If we are able to make an offer of a grant, you will be sent an email that asks you to log into the application and to go to the ‘offer details’ section of the application to view and accept the offer. (To do this; log in to GrantsPlus, open the application and click the ‘Offer Details’ link under SECTIONS, on the right-hand side of the screen).

White goods

Please check the size and type of the item (particularly whether a cooker is electric or gas).
If suitable press the ACCEPT button, if the offer is not suitable, do not press ‘Accept’, please send us a message via the ‘View Communications’ section located under ‘Tools’ menu.
AO will then contact the person receiving the item to arrange delivery. Please see this link for information about AO’s deliveries during Covid-19. If you need to contact AO, please call 01204 672866.

Beds/Mattresses

Please check the offer and if suitable, press the ACCEPT button. If it isn’t suitable do not press ‘Accept’, please send us a message via the ‘View Communications’ section located under ‘Tools’ menu. Dreams will then contact the support worker who submitted the application to arrange delivery. Please note that Bedding is not provided directly via Dreams but is made via a grant to the referring organisation (See section on BACS payments below). Please see this link for information about bed delivery during Covid-19. If you need to contact Dreams please call 01628 535336.

BACS payments for other grants requests

If the grant is for something other than white goods or beds, for example clothing, bedding, flooring or other household furniture such as a sofa or wardrobe, the grant will be paid via a bank transfer to a support worker’s organisation. The support worker will need to liaise with the person they are supporting to obtain the item they requested and Glasspool approved. Once the offer is accepted payment should be received in your organisation's bank within 10 working days.

Click ‘Reject’ next to each offer line. You will then be asked to confirm that you want to reject the offer.  A further pop-up box will then ask you why you want to reject the offer. Please select the reason from the dropdown list and click ‘Reject Offer’. You can click ‘Cancel’ to close the option.

You will be unable to cancel the application. Please email us at grants@glasspool.org.uk quoting the application reference number (GA0……) and reasons for cancelling.

There are currently no changes to services that our suppliers are providing. Please see Glasspool Grants Status page for more information.

If you can’t remember your password, enter your registration email address and click the red ‘Password Reset’ button found in the log in box.

You will then be sent a password reset email.

To track the progress of an application, please check GrantsPlus for the latest information. Log in to GrantsPlus using your username and password and enter the GA reference number.

AO can be contacted on 01204 672866 (please quote the GA reference if you can)

Dreams can be contacted on 01628 535336 (please quote the postcode)

If you can’t find the information you need on our website, please email us at grants@glasspool.org.uk

We encourage support workers to send us messages via GrantsPlus – it is the most secure way to contact us because emails can be hacked. We answer our GrantsPlus messages every day. However, if you have not heard back from us after five days it may mean that your message has not reached us, so you may then email us at grants@glasspool.org.uk.

Do not include any personal information in an email to meet GDPR guidance. Please include the GA reference number to help us locate the application. If you require a progress update on an application, log in to GrantsPlus using your username and password and enter the GA reference number.

If we cannot offer a grant, we will outline the reason why, such as ‘Out of Scope’ or ‘Previous Award Given’ in the ‘Status Explanation’ box under the ‘Decision’ section of the application, located at the bottom of the Summary Details page.