Decision details

The Crisis and Resilience Fund (CRF) is a new, long-term scheme that replaces the Household Support Fund (HSF) with a single, three-year framework for local crisis support. Administered by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), the primary objective of CRF is to both provide a safety net for those on low incomes who encounter a financial shock and to invest in building local financial resilience to enable individuals and communities to better deal with crises in the long-term, reducing crisis need.

This reflects a shift toward community-based preventative support, recognising that long-term financial resilience is best built through support embedded within local neighbourhoods.

Gloucestershire County Council (GCC) is the lead authority for the delivery of CRF in the county and has allocated a grant of £222,870 to Cheltenham Borough Council to cover the period 1 April 2026 to 31 March 2027.


This decision report sets out the proposed allocation of the CRF grant.



Decisions

1) Sign and complete the Crisis and Resilience Fund grant agreement between Gloucestershire County Council and Cheltenham Borough Council;

2) The proposals for the allocation of Cheltenham’s Crisis and Resilience Fund grant as set out as set out in appendix A are approved;

3) Delegated authority is granted to the Head of communities, wellbeing & partnerships to enter into grant agreements with the provider organisations to deliver the Crisis and Resilience Fund programme in 2026/27.

1 Background
The primary objective of CRF is to both provide a safety net for those on low incomes who encounter a financial shock and to invest in building local financial resilience to enable individuals and communities to better deal with crises in the long-term, reducing crisis need.

CRF has three key outcomes:

Outcome 1 – Effective crisis support:
Provide timely, needs based help to prevent financial shocks from escalating, including support with urgent housing costs.
Outcome 2 – Improved financial resilience:
Equip individuals to better manage and recover from financial pressures, reducing the likelihood and recurrence of crises.
Outcome 3 – Stronger local support landscape:
Build coordinated, visible community networks with clear referral preventative pathways so people can access both crisis help and longer term resilience building services.

Each of the six district councils has the flexibility to develop their own schemes that best meets the needs of their local communities whilst complying with the conditions set by the DWP for delivery of the grant to provide support with food, energy and water bills, household items and other essential items.

2 The proposed 2026/27 CRF delivery plan

Cheltenham’s approach to the Crisis & Resilience Fund (CRF) is designed to meet the three outcomes through a community-based and prevention-focused local model. The strategy draws on Cheltenham’s voluntary and community sector (VCS), the Council’s Benefit and Money Advice Service plus support from the Facing Hardship Group that sits under the Community Safety Partnership.
All funding awards will be subject to the Council’s grants process and will be subject to grant agreements that will specify the delivery of outputs and outcomes and monitoring arrangements.
Outcome 1 – Crisis Support
A county-wide crisis payment process will be managed by Gloucestershire County Council and local partners will refer into this system via signposting and promotion.
To complement the county crisis payment process, for people in an immediate food crisis, we have allocated funding to support the following:
• Cheltenham food bank that provides food parcels via referrals from frontline professional, such as a doctor, social worker, health visitor, or Citizens Advice adviser that then issues the person with a foodbank voucher which is required to access a food parcel.
• Cheltenham YMCA food voucher scheme that enables people in an immediate crisis to access food via their local food pantry.
In terms of people in crisis with access to household essential items (such as white goods or furniture), local partners will provide support via their household essentials programmes:

• Springbank Community Group
• CBC’s Help2 scheme
• CCP’s household essentials project
Outcome 2 - Improved financial resilience
Cheltenham partners will help local residents better manage financial shocks and mitigate the occurrence, recurrence and escalation of crises via access to good quality advice and support. This will be delivered through:
Creating additional capacity within the Council’s Benefits and Money Advice team.
The team is looking to strengthen community support by increasing benefit uptake, reducing rent arrears, expanding drop ins and workshops, and improving outreach to vulnerable residents through specialist home visits. Funding will enable the development of new initiatives, building on successful projects such as the school uniform scheme, and allow the service to deliver a broader, more effective offer to the community.
Funding for Cheltenham Housing Aid Centre.
The funding will enable the service to continue to deliver its housing advice programme to people who are either homeless or in housing need – ensuring that participants:
• Have been provided with housing if they were homeless or facing homelessness
• Have been enabled to remain in their current housing if they were at risk of eviction
• Have improved housing conditions.

Outcome 3 – Stronger local support landscape
Cheltenham will continue delivering its food pantry model through six community hubs, supported by YMCA / FeedCheltenham. To maintain and strengthen this network, funding will be used for staffing, food supplies, and bulk purchasing to ensure the long-term sustainability of the pantry sites across Cheltenham.
The pantry model provides a membership-based alternative to traditional emergency food provision. Members typically contribute £4 per week and receive £15–£20 worth of food and essential household items in return. Each pantry is set up to resemble a small supermarket, giving people the dignity of choosing the products that best suit their household needs. This choice-led approach supports dietary requirements, minimises waste, and enhances personal autonomy. By reducing weekly food costs and offering practical budgeting support, the model helps prevent financial crises and enables households to build longer-term stability.
Alongside food support, the community hubs offer a broad package of wrap-around services, including financial guidance, household budgeting and debt advice, plus healthy living activities such as strength and balance classes, blood pressure checks, and opportunities for social connection.
It is proposed that the prevention model developed by Springbank is sustained and expanded across different community settings. The programme works with pantry members to build independence, improve financial literacy, and reduce reliance on emergency aid.
We are also allocating funding to sustain CBC’s well-regarded school uniform project.

Community co-ordination
CBC will coordinate the crisis and resilience fund programme and has sought admin costs to cover some of the costs of doing so.
The Council will continue to liaise with partners via the Facing Hardship Group that aims to reduce the impacts of poverty and stigma through a collective approach to supporting communities. Members include; Citizen Advice, Caring for Communities and People, Feed Cheltenham (YMCA), Cheltenham Foodbank, Cheltenham Housing Aid Centre, Jobcentre Plus, Aspire Children’s and Family Hubs, Gloucestershire County Council and the Council. The group is chaired by a representative from Citizens Advice.
The Council will explore how best to use the data arising from the Low Income Family Tracker (LIFT) that GCC has subscribed to on behalf of the districts. LIFT is a data analytics platform developed by Policy in Practice that helps UK local authorities identify, understand, and support households experiencing financial vulnerability to ensure that we are targeting communities where we know under-claiming of benefits exists.
In terms of local delivery, this will be in the main via the town’s well-established network of community-hubs that provide local support to those that need it most. By delivering CRF through these hubs, support will be delivered that is accessible, trusted, and delivered within the communities that need it most.
The Council will also ensure liaison with other key work-streams that can support the delivery of the CRF programme, including the No Child Left Behind, the county’s One Plan, the HAF programme, arts and creative providers, health and sports partners and education and skills providers

As set out above, the Council has chosen to work with its community partners as they are the organisations that are working closest with those made vulnerable.

As an alternative, the Council could have chosen to procure and run its own food and energy voucher scheme. However, this option was dismissed as it would duplicate existing voucher schemes in existence, particularly the GCC voucher scheme and more locally the #FeedCheltenham voucher scheme. Additionally, it would have created a significant draw on staff time to manage the scheme.

In the development of the draft delivery plan, the Council has engaged with the Facing Hardship group, which to ensure that it meets locally identified needs and that local providers are in a position to deliver the plan.

The draft delivery plan was also shared with the Council’s Leadership Team on 3 June and Gloucestershire County Council’s Children and Families Commissioning Hub.