Crisis and Resilience Fund

About the fund

The Crisis and Resilience Fund is a new 3-year grant funded by the UK Government. It’s designed to:

• support households who experience a sudden financial shock
• help people to manage their finances and avoid future crisis situations
• strengthen local support systems in the community

The fund replaces both the Household Support Fund and Discretionary Housing Payments. Find out more about the differences between the Crisis and Resilience Fund and Household Support Fund.

How the fund will be delivered

The funding covers the period of 1 April 2026 to 31 March 2029 inclusive.

We plan to deliver the fund across 4 areas:

• crisis payments
• housing payments
• resilience services
• community coordination

Crisis payments

If you’re experiencing a sudden financial shock or emergency, or need an urgent payment to prevent falling into crisis, you can use our online form to apply for a crisis payment.

You can also call our cost of living helpline, or receive support directly from Trusted Partners.

Family Support Vouchers

We’re also sending out Family Support Vouchers, worth £50 per eligible child, to help families with household essentials.

Find out more about Family Support Vouchers.

Housing payments

Housing payments will support households experiencing housing-related financial hardship, including;

• rent shortfalls
• rent in advance
• deposits needed to access or keep tenancies

Find out more about housing payments.

Resilience services

We’re investing in a range of resilience services through the fund, including access to:
access to school uniform essentials through Reloved: Uniform For All

• food support in partnership with foodbanks, pantries and social supermarkets
• out of hours information, advice and guidance
• digital inclusion support

Advice and guidance, and benefit uptake campaigns

Nationally, an estimated £23 billion is unclaimed in benefits.

In 2025/26, the council and Trusted Partners supported residents to access an extra £28 million, including one-off payments, debt written off, and recurring benefits.

We’re investing in campaigns to help households claim what they’re entitled to and prevent future crisis situations.

Care leavers and households with Special Guardianship Orders (SGO)

We’ll deliver cash voucher support for care leavers and families with Special Guardianship Orders (SGO), alongside wider wrap-around resilience support.

Our Leaving Care Team will have access to funding to provide needs-based support.

Expansion of Holiday Activity and Food (HAF) Programme

We’ll expand the Holiday Activities and Food (HAF) programme during half term holidays in February, May and October.

The HAF programme provides healthy meals, enriching activities, and free childcare places for children from low‑income families during school holidays, helping to protect wellbeing, reduce food insecurity, and support learning.

This expansion of the programme will now cover all school holidays in the academic year.

Community coordination

Building on Stockport Live Well, we’ll be investing in a range of support to give residents access to the local services that they need.

This includes:

• digital tools to help communication between us and our local partners
• clearer pathways to help residents find the right support

Differences between the Crisis and Resilience Fund and Household Support Fund

Like the Household Support Fund that came before it, the Crisis and Resilience Fund provides a safety net for households facing financial shocks, but with a few key differences: