A £1 MILLION grant fund is being launched to help families manage escalating back-to-school costs.
GroceryAid’s School Essentials Grant is specifically for people working in the grocery industry, and can help families with the cost of everything from school shoes and stationery to PE kits and backpacks.
Grocery employees will be able to apply for the grant during a three day window in June.
If successful, they can be awarded £150 per child, with a maximum of three children per family.
GroceryAid, which provides a wide range of financial, emotional and practical support to grocery workers, is urging people to get prepared ahead of the launch, so that they are ready when applications open.
Anyone working in the grocery industry can apply (subject to eligibility).
Supported by The Leverhulme Trade Charities Trust, the grant is available to people working across the grocery industry, including supermarkets, wholesalers, manufacturers, suppliers, convenience stores and independent retailers.
Successful applicants will be chosen at random from those who meet the eligibility criteria and have supplied the correct documentation.
They must be working in the grocery industry and have done so for six months or more.
Kieran Hemsworth, CEO of GroceryAid, said: “We know the summer holidays can be stressful.
“For families who are already juggling childcare and rising household costs, the back-to-school shop is a big expense.
“We hope the School Essentials Grant can help ease some of that pressure for those working in grocery who do so much to keep supermarket shelves stocked and the nation fed, while giving children a confident start to the new school year.
“This is the helping hand grocery workers have earned.”
The School Essentials Grant is just one of the grants that GroceryAid offers.
Subject to eligibility, the charity also provides financial grants to help those struggling to make ends meet due to a wide range of reasons; including help ease the pressure of an unexpected drop in income, or financial crisis following a traumatic event or relationship breakdown.
Last year GroceryAid provided over £4.6m in financial grants to help those working in grocery.
Mr Hemsworth said: “Even if you aren’t successful with your School Essentials Grant application, you may still be eligible for another financial grant from GroceryAid to provide relief in tough times.
“It’s well worth applying; there’s absolutely no cost so there’s nothing to lose.”
Wider support is also available, including free and confidential family counselling, and funded counselling for children and young people.
Applications for the School Essentials Grant can be made during a period of just three days, from 9am on Tuesday, June 2.
The opportunity will close at 5pm on Thursday June 4, giving families three days to complete their application and upload supporting documents.
To be in with a chance of benefitting from the grant, people are advised to save the application window date and to get ahead by preparing everything needed to apply now.
For more information and to apply, visit: groceryaid.org.uk
