£6m to help needy families this winter
A COUNCIL is making more than £6m available to support families during the winter months.
Families in Manchester who receive welfare support are to be helped with a boost over the coming months.
The £6.453m of funding will be divided up in four ways, helping a variety of people.
The council has confirmed that it will fund free school meals in both the Christmas holidays and the February half-term, meaning that each child who receives free school meals will get £15 a week, managed by the school.
Another portion of the funding is going to households who receive council tax support. A cheque will be automatically sent out by the council to help with winter bills.
Families who have children will receive
£100, while households without will receive £70.
This initiative will see more than 53,000 people receive a cheque next month.
The rest of the funding is to be split between the community and voluntary sector, and into a discretionary fund to help households who receive welfare support, and have bills but do not get council tax support.
Within the community and voluntary services, Manchester’s Food Partnership is set to receive £50,000, and £250,000 will go to advice services including Citizens Advice.
These schemes will be launching in mid-December.
Coun Bev Craig, leader-elect of Manchester council, said: “We know that many of our residents have really struggled through the pandemic and although signs are positive that we are coming out of the other end, the impact on residents following changes to welfare – and Universal Credit in particular – are very real.
“Couple this with rising fuel costs and general costs of living, we can expect more households to be feeling financial pressure in the coming months. “The reality is that the loss of £20 per week in Universal Credit payments has taken £60m from the pockets of Mancunians – and although this funding is of course welcome, it does not compare to what has been lost, especially following a decade of austerity.
“We hope that this funding will provide a sense of stability for families who need help.
“Ensuring our young people have enough to eat during school holidays is a priority for us and knowing that Free School Meals will continue through Christmas and February half term next year will be a real relief to those families that rely on it.”