Community Care Grant

The community care grant helps you to cope with special difficulties. We will normally make awards by giving goods such as

- Removal expenses
- Bedding and clothing
- Storage charges or connection charges
- Furniture such as a sofa, armchair or bed
- Household equipment such as a cooker or fridge

Where this is not possible, we may make cash payments that are tax free and do not have to be paid back.

Eligibility...

Apply if you are a:

- Family under exceptional pressure
- Person following a period of care or homelessness
- Person living independently where there's a risk of care or homelessness
- Person meeting additional costs associated with looking after someone on temporary release from prison or a young offenders' institution.

Your income...

To get a Community Care Grant you need to be on a low income - this doesn't mean you need to be on benefits.

What counts as a low income

There is no figure that will be used to judge whether you have a low income. As a guide, if you're on one of the benefits below, or your income is about the same as someone who is, it's more likely you'll be able to get a Community Care Grant:

- Income Support
- Pension Credit
- Jobseeker's Allowance (JSA) - Income based
- Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) - Income based
- Universal Credit
- Your savings

We may not award a community care grant if you or your partner are

- Below pension age with savings over £700
- Above pension age with savings over £1,200

Apply for a grant...

Please see https://www.edinburgh.gov.uk/benefits-grants/scottish-welfare-fund to apply online.

Community care grants will be considered within 15 working days. We will contact you if we need further information.

You must be 16 or over and on a low income to apply for a Community Care Grant.