Emergency Assistance Grant Scheme

The Local Authority Emergency Assistance Grant is to help support residents of the Preston area who do not have enough resources to meet the immediate short-term needs and urgently require assistance with food and essentials items.

You must be experiencing financial hardship as a direct result of Covid-19.

Awards will be made where there is no alternative means of meeting the need.

Eligibility

To be eligible for the scheme you must be:

• Aged 16 years or over
• A resident of the Preston area - please visit GOV.UK - to find your local council
• Experiencing financial hardship as a direct result of Covid-19 and not have enough resources to meet your immediate short-term needs
• On a low income or in receipt of one of the following benefits:
  • Universal Credit
  • Jobseeker's Allowance
  • Employment Support Allowance
  • Income Support
  • Pension Credit

Support available

The scheme can help with short-term living costs such as food, gas and electric, essential household appliances and school uniforms. Cash will not usually be awarded. 

If white goods such as washing machines or fridges are required, items will be purchased through the scheme and delivery will be arranged directly to your home.   

The scheme will also signpost you to other sources of advice and support to ensure that you get all the assistance you are entitled to. You may be offered a referral for advice and assistance with finance, debt and/or welfare benefits, to help address your long-term needs. 

Restrictions

The scheme does not cover:

• Any requests for items that are not essential 
• Applications from those with sufficient income or savings
• Requests for household items where these are the responsibility of the landlord

How long will it take for a decision to be made? 

We aim to make a decision within 72 hours of receiving all the required information, other than for household goods, where we aim to decide within five working days. Depending on the level of demand for the scheme, this may not always be possible.

To speed up the application process please ensure you fully complete the application form and provide all the evidence we ask for.

Please do not chase up your application until at least five working days after it was submitted.

How to apply

To apply please complete the Emergency Assistance Grant form.

Apply for the Emergency Assistance Grant

You can also telephone our Community Hub (Preston Together) on 01772 906777 or email EAGS@preston.gov.uk.

We will need the following information:

• Where you live
• Full household details
• Your circumstances
• Your income and the affect Covid-19 has had on this
• Your most recent Bank Statement showing one months transactions and showing your name and address
• What support you need 

Submitting evidence

We will contact you if further information is required. Please make a note of your application reference number, as we will ask for this when you are submitting any evidence.

Your evidence can be submitted in the following ways:

• By uploading your documents.
• By email to EAGS@preston.gov.uk
• By post to: Town Hall, Lancaster Road, Preston, PR1 2RL

Please ensure your name and address is provided along with any evidence documents.

Can I appeal a decision if may application is unsuccessful? 

As this is a discretionary scheme there is no right of appeal. However, if you think we have overlooked important information then you can ask for us to look at the application again by emailing EAGS@preston.gov.uk. 

This decision will be final.

Your privacy

The information that you provide will be processed in accordance with the general data protection regulation (GDPR) and data protection law for the purpose of provision and management of the Emergency Assistance Grant Fund.

Your personal information, where provided, will be processed under Article 6,1 (e) of the GDPR - processing is necessary for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest or in the exercise of official authority vested in the controller.