The Guide to Grants for Individuals in Need 2024/25

Do you help individuals and families in need of emergency financial help? With details of around 1,800 grant-making charities giving almost £376 million in funds, this nineteenth edition of the guide is your companion for providing support to the individuals who need it most.

The comprehensive and up-to-date information allows you to simplify the task of finding suitable support for your service users by outlining eligibility criteria, amounts available and how to apply.

The guide contains a list of useful advice organisations, as well as tips on how to make successful application. The guide’s structure is easy to navigate, fully indexed and includes sections on:

• Illness and disability charities
• Local charities
• Utility company funds
• Armed forces charities
• Occupational charities

The range of needs covered by grantmakers in The Guide to Grants for Individuals in Need is so varied. For example, there are 114 grantmakers that help with rent, and 333 that would help replace white goods. This edition includes funding for uniforms, books and equipment for school children as well as other funding for post-16 education.

Who is this book for?

It is particularly useful for social workers, welfare advisors, housing officers and anyone working with individuals in need.

‘Those working on the front line often need quick solutions to urgent situations.  This vital and respected guide gives frontline workers access to the crucial information and resources they need to help those in financial crisis, often meaning the difference between keeping or losing a home.’

Matt Downie, Chief Executive, Crisis

‘This directory seeks to alleviate the burden of accessing complex information and helps us to be more efficient in the search for help when people urgently need it. Our colleagues at DSC have carefully curated this information enabling us to have the best chance in accessing vital funds. This work is an act of solidarity with us in the sector and shows a deep commitment to making it as easy as possible for us to do what we do best: offer practical and emotional support when people need us the most.’

Sarah Hughes, CEO, Mind

 

‘This directory is invaluable for those of us in the charity world who are here to help individuals. Fundraising and due diligence go hand-in-glove, and to have a reliable source of data when we are all under such incredible pressure is so very critical.’

Dr Hugh Milroy OBE PhD, CEO, Veterans Aid

 

‘So many people are struggling and in desperate need of extra help during these very tough times. They have no idea where to turn. This guide is a vital aid to organisations and professionals that help those most in need. It brings all the contacts and information front-line workers need on funders offering grants, support and guidance.’

Tricia Phillips, former Personal Finance Editor, The Mirror

 

‘Emergency financial help can be a lifeline for people in distress, who often have urgent and pressing needs. Being able to quickly identify and understand possible sources of support, eligibility criteria and application processes is crucial. This comprehensive guide helps front-line services to do just that.’

Steve Vaid, Chief Executive, Money Advice Trust

What they said about the previous editions

‘Having worked in the third sector for over 25 years, The Guide to Grants for Individuals in Need has become an essential resource for me in assisting clients to access grants. We aim to make a difference to clients through our advice giving, and this can only happen with the necessary resources available such as this directory. An absolute must for all advisors.’

Anne Burke, Service Manager, East Dunbartonshire Citizens Advice

 

‘This 18^th edition of The Guide to Grants for Individuals in Need is a vital map. It locates grant-making charities that provide much-needed resources for people in difficulty. It signposts lifeline grants for unaffordable school uniforms or to replace broken fridges and boilers. It can direct to longer-term support for people facing struggles with housing, debt, domestic violence, illness or addiction.’

Peter Grigg, Chief Executive, Home-Start UK [from the foreword]

 

‘We have used The Guide to Grants for Individuals in Need for six years now and find it an excellent source of information and research. As an example, the guide helped us assist a veteran in crisis, as we were able to quickly identify and secure funding for furniture for his new flat. We highly recommend this DSC publication.’

Dorothy Jones, Head of Fundraising, Veterans Aid

 

‘Part of our service for those affected by cancer is assisting with hardship grant applications, and this book has been immensely beneficial in that work. It’s well designed and easy to read, with categories for different locations and types of beneficiaries or need, which makes it simple to navigate. Definitely recommended.’

Rikki Stern, Charity Administrator, Acheinu Cancer Support

 

‘National Energy Action is a UK charity leading in fuel poverty and offering energy efficiency advice and support to vulnerable householders. Over the last few years we have had increasing numbers of clients coming to us struggling to afford energy efficiency measures and remedial works to their homes. At the moment there are limited programmes of support for these measures and most government funded schemes require a customer contribution which our clients simply do not have. We have had to get inventive when seeking top-up funds and support for clients and have found The Guide to Grants for Individuals in Need to be a very useful resource to have in our arsenal. It has led us to benevolent funds for ex-miners, teachers, nurses, gardeners and artists to name but a few and has enabled us to help clients secure funds for heating oil top-ups, match funding for new boilers and white goods and electrical upgrades in the home so new heating systems could be fitted as well as school uniforms, bedding and even new thermal underlay and carpets.’

Lesley Tudor-Snodin, Project Development Manager, National Energy Action

Look inside

Have a look inside The Guide to Grants for Individuals in Need 2024/25.

About the author

Ross Hardy

Ross joined DSC in July 2022 as a member of the research team and contributes to our funding guides and funding website. He is co-author of The Guide to New Trusts 2023/24. Before joining DSC, Ross worked on various research projects while studying at the University of Nottingham and as an editor for international relations think tank RAIA.

Are you an individual in need of funding?

If you are not a welfare advisor but are yourself in urgent need of support and think you would benefit from the information in this directory, organisations that may stock the directory as one of their resources are as follows:

• The welfare or careers departments of schools, colleges and universities
• Reference libraries
• Citizens Advice bureaux
• Member offices of Advice UK (adviceuk.org.uk)
• Educational advisors at local councils

Ask the organisations above if they stock the book as a resource. If they don’t, encourage them to stock the latest edition so they can help you better and point them to this page to buy the book at the best price.

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