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Cost of Living Support

The rising cost of living is on everyone’s minds and can have an impact on mental health and wellbeing. If you feel overwhelmed, advice and support is available to help you cope.

As the general public is facing increased cost of living pressures, particularly due to the rise in energy costs, you may find it helpful to read the following sections.

Governmental Resources

NHS Help with Health Costs

Energy Support

Food Support

IT Support

Supportive Organisations

UK: Help for Households Support

We know people are worried so the government is offering help for households. See what cost of living support you could be eligible for.

Find out more

Scotland: Cost of Living Campaign

Your local council may be able to help if you need urgent help with things like food, heating and electricity.

Find out more

N. Ireland: Cost of Living Support

Information & Advice: Help with energy costs; income; families & children; older people; housing & help with other costs

Find out more

Wales: Get help with the cost of living

We understand that the rising cost of living can be especially worrying if you have difficulty paying your bills and/or your rent, but there is help and advice available to assist you.

Find out more

Local Authority help

Your local council could help with energy and food bills through welfare assistance schemes, also known as 'crisis support'. Many schemes provide support with utility bills, petrol and food as well.

Find out more

NHS Help with Health Costs

This section has information on NHS Services and what help you can get with health costs.

Check whether you're entitled to claim for free treatment or prescriptions. 

If you're referred to hospital or other NHS premises for specialist NHS treatment or diagnostic tests by a doctor, dentist or another primary care health professional, you may be able to claim a refund of reasonable travel costs under the Healthcare Travel Costs Scheme (HTCS). 

NHS Services

Find out about when you need to pay, help when on universal credit, travel costs and personal health budgets

Find out more

Reduce your bills - schemes and grants

This guide will help you find energy grants and schemes that can reduce your bills.

Find out more

British Gas Energy Trust

Offers grants up to £1500 to anyone in energy debt - not just its customers - to support families and individuals who are struggling to pay their bill. You need to be spending more than ten per cent of your income on energy

Find out more

Charis Grants

Runs charitable funds on behalf of many major energy providers, including E.ON and EDF. Their schemes provide financial assistance towards paying for bills and essential household items

Find out more

Warm Home Discount Scheme

You could get £150 off your electricity bill, or £150 added to your pre-payment meter. The Government website will be updated with details of who is eligible. Or check your energy supplier's site

Find out more

Energy improvements

ECO is the main scheme for supporting energy efficiency improvements for disabled people. It's funded by energy suppliers and installs energy improvements and reduces bills for households in need.

Find out more

Food Banks

Get a minimum of 3 days' emergency food and additional support. Food banks work with professionals, such as social workers, to issue vouchers. If you need help getting food home, ask the food bank about deliveries.

Find out more

Membership Food Clubs

Often called social supermarkets, membership food clubs offer reduced price products for a small charge. You'll usually have the choice of getting shopping worth many times your contribution but availability may limit the choice.

Find out more

OLIO app

Connects you with neighbours & businesses looking to share surplus food. OLIO says it has over 1.2 million users across the UK. Many items on the app come from people emptying out their store cupboards & donations from supermarkets, cafes, bakeries & shops

Find out more

Iceland Food Club

Supermarket Iceland is part of a scheme to offer zero-interest loans of up to £100 to buy everyday groceries. Funds are available on preloaded cards with repayments set at £10 a week. Anyone can apply for the scheme. Use the card in-store or the website

Find out more

IT Support

 

Broadband Social Tariffs

You're likely to be eligible for a social tariff if you receive a means-tested state benefit, such as Universal Credit, Pension Credit or legacy equivalents. The exact requirements depend on the broadband provider in question – some only offer social tariffs to Universal Credit recipients, while others extend eligibility to those on Income Support, Jobseeker’s Allowance and Employment & Support Allowance.

Broadband social tariffs

Which? explains all you need to know about social tariffs, including which providers offer them and who can access them

Find out more

Accessing the internet and digital devices

Good Things Foundation are building a National Device Bank to provide devices to people in need. Their National Databank provides free data to 500,000 people and they support Online Centres where people can access the internet and build digital skills.

Accessing the internet and digital devices

Good Things Foundation are a social change charity, helping people to improve their lives through digital.

Find out more

Supportive Organisations

Please also check the Helpful Charities page, which offers further support and specialist services that may be of benefit to you.

These charities and organisations listed below offer information, free advice, financial planning, practical support with debt management and grants.

Citizens Advice

The Citizens Advice network of independent charities offers confidential advice online, over the phone, and in person, for free. 

We also give advice on consumer rights on our consumer helpline, support witnesses in courts through the Witness Service and give pension guidance to people aged over 50.

Visit their website
Citizens Advice Scotland

Ciutizens Advice Scotland give free, independent, confidential, impartial advice.

We look at the problems people bring to their advice services and campaign for change where it’s needed most.

We work for a fairer Scotland, where people are empowered and their rights respected.

Visit their website
MoneyHelper

MoneyHelper is here to make your money and pension choices clearer. Here to cut through the complexity, explain what you need to do and how you can do it.

Here to put you in control with impartial guidance that's  backed by government and to recommend further, trusted support if you need it. 

Visit their website
StepChange

StepChange offer free, flexible debt advice that is based on a comprehensive assessment of your situation.They then provide practical help and support for however long it’s needed.

Visit their website
Turn2Us

Turn2us helps people in financial need gain access to welfare benefits, charitable grants and other financial help – online, by phone and face to face through our partner organisations.

Visit their website
Contact

Contact is the charity for families with disabled children. Contact's website provides advice and information about any concern you might have about raising a child with additional needs or a disability.

Contact provides free seminars to cater for specific needs within families and advises directly on the cost of living support that is available. You can also call Contact's free helpline on 0808 808 3555 between 9:30-5pm Monday to Friday or email helpline@contact.org.uk.

Visit their website
NCVO - National Council for Voluntary Organisations

Help and Guidance for Cost of Living Crisis addressing the impact on families and individuals listing various resources and guidance in one place

Visit their website
The Florence Nightingale Aid in Sickness Trust

Provides grants to people with medical conditions, disability, or poor health.

Visit their website
The Glasspool Trust

Issues small one-off grants to individuals in need on a low income

Visit their website
Heinz, Anna and Carol Kroch Foundation

Provides £100 to £500 grants for individuals suffering from on-going medical conditions.

Visit their website
Linking Help with Hope

Offers grants for household items if you have certain health conditions.

Visit their website
The National Benevolent Charity

Makes grants to help with household items and supplies vouchers for goods and services

Visit their website

Masterclasses in NF: Constitutional Mismatch Repair Deficiency Syndrome as Differential Diagnosis to NF1/Legius Syndrome - Prof. Dr. Katharina Wimmer

Constitutional Mismatch Repair Deficiency Syndrome as Differential Diagnosis to NF1/Legius Syndrome

Prof. Dr. Katharina Wimmer, Medical University of Innsbruck

Masterclasses in NF: Rare NF1-Associated Tumors in Adults - Eric Legius & Prof. Ellen Denayer

Masterclasses in NF: Rare NF1-Associated Tumors in Adults

Eric Legius, MD, PhD, University Hospital Leuven

Prof. Ellen Denayer, University Hospital Leuven

Masterclasses in NF: Optimising Hearing Outcomes in NF2-Related Schwannomatosis - Simon Freeman

Masterclasses in NF: Optimising Hearing Outcomes in NF2-Related Schwannomatosis

Simon Freeman, MPhil FRCS, Manchester Royal Infirmary and Salford Royal Hospital

Masterclasses in NF: NF1 Dermatological Manifestations - Pierre Wolkenstein, Laura Fertitta & Sirkku Peltonen

Masterclasses in NF: NF1 Dermatological Manifestations

Pierre Wolkenstein, MD, PhD, Hopital Henri-Mondor, Paris, France

Laura Fertitta, MD, Hôpital Universitaire Henri Mondor

Sirkku Peltonen, MD, PhD, University of Gothenberg, Sweden

Masterclasses in NF: Breast Cancer in NF1 - Gareth Evans

Masterclasses in NF: Breast Cancer in NF1

Gareth Evans, MD, University of Manchester, UK

Masterclasses in NF: Pain in Non-NF2-Related Schwannomatosis - David Pang

Masterclasses in NF: Pain in Non-NF2-Related Schwannomatosis

David Pang, MD, ChB. Guys and St Thomas' Hospital NHS Trust, London

Masterclasses in NF: Distinguishing Non-NF2-Related from NF2-Related Schwannomatosis - Clinical and Genetic Approaches - Said Farschtschi

Masterclasses in NF: Distinguishing Non-NF2-Related from NF2-Related Schwannomatosis - Clinical and Genetic Approaches

Said Farschtschi, MD, University Medical Center, Hamburg-Eppendorf, Germany

Masterclasses in NF: NF1 Pre-Implantation Genetic Diagnosis - Eric Legius & Prof. Ellen Denayer

Masterclasses in NF: NF1 Pre-Implantation Genetic Diagnosis

Eric Legius, MD, PHD, University Hospital of Leuven, Belgium

Prof. Ellen Denayer, University Hospital of Leuven, Belgium

NF2 Working Together: from a tentative diagnosis and beyond

Understanding the impact that a tentative diagnosis has on a parent. Information and access to the existing NTUK and Specialist Nerve Tumours medical and non medical care network.

NF1 Working Together Part 2: from a tentative diagnosis and beyond

Understanding the impact that a tentative diagnosis has on a parent. Information and access to the existing NTUK and Specialist Nerve Tumours medical and non medical care network.

NF1 Working Together Part 1: from a tentative diagnosis and beyond

Understanding  the impact that a tentative diagnosis has on a parent. Information and access to the existing NTUK and Specialist Nerve Tumours medical and non medical care network.

Masterclasses in NF: Surgery in NF2 - Michel Kalamarides & Andrew King

Masterclasses in NF: Surgery in NF2

Michel Kalamarides, MD, PhD, Hôpital Pitié-Salpêtrière, Paris, France

Prof Andrew King, MBBS FRCS FRCS(SN), Salford Royal Hospital, Manchester, United Kingdom. Member of the MAB of Nerve Tumours UK

Masterclasses in NF: Cognition and Behaviour in NF1: Phenotype and Treatment Approaches - Shruti Garg, Andre Rietman

Masterclasses in NF: Cognition and Behaviour in NF1: Phenotype and Treatment Approaches

Dr Shruti Garg, MBBS, MRCPsych, MMedSci, PhD, Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital, United Kingdom. Member of the MAB of Nerve Tumours UK

Andre Rietman, PhD, Erasmus University Medical Center, Rotterdam, Netherlands

Masterclasses in NF: Emotional Challenges in NF1, NF2 and Schwannomatosis - Susie Henley, Thomas Pletschko & Verena Rosenmayr

Masterclasses in NF: Emotional Challenges in NF1, NF2 and Schwannomatosis

Susie Henley, DClinPsy, PhD, Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust, London UK

Thomas Pletschko, PhD, Medical University of Vienna, Austria

Verena Rosenmayr, Clinical Psychologist, Medical University of Vienna, Austria

Masterclasses in NF: NF1 Pediatric Management - Rianne Oostenbrink

Masterclasses in NF: NF1 Pediatric Management

Rianne Oostenbrink, MD, PhD, Erasmus University Medical Center, Rotterdam, Netherlands

Masterclasses in NF: Associated Glioma in Children - the Optic Pathway and Beyond - Amedeo Azizi

Masterclasses in NF: Associated Glioma in Children - the Optic Pathway and Beyond

Amedeo Azizi, MD, PhD, Head of the Paediatric Neurofibromatosis Program and Paediatric Neuro-Oncology Program, Medical University of Vienna, Austria

Masterclasses in NF: NF1 Orthopedic Manifestations - Eric Legius and Christophe Glorion

Masterclasses in NF: NF1 Orthopedic Manifestations

Eric Legius, MD, PhD. Head of Clinical Genetics Department of the University Hospital Leuven, Belgium

Christophe Glorion, MD, PhD, Department of Paediatric Orthopedic and Traumatologic Surgery, Hopital Necker-Enfants Malades, Paris, France. 

Masterclasses in NF: NF1 Malignant Peripheral Nerve Sheath Tumours - Rosalie Ferner and Viktor-Felix Mautner

Masterclasses in NF: NF1 Malignant Peripheral Nerve Sheath Tumours

Prof Rosalie Ferner, Consultant Neurologist and Lead Clinician for Neurofibromatosis, Guy's and St. Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust, London. Member of the MAB of Nerve Tumours UK and Trustee of Nerve Tumours UK

Viktor-Felix Mautner, MD, PhD. University Medical Centre in Hamburg-Eppendorf, Germany. Head of NF Outpatient Department

Masterclasses in NF - Neurofibromatosis Type 1: Cutaneous Neurofibromas - Pierre Wolkenstein and Sirkku Peltonen

Masterclasses in NF - Neurofibromatosis Type 1: Cutaneous Neurofibromas

Pierre Wolkenstein, MD, PhD. Hopital Henri-Mondor, Paris, France. Head of the Department of Dermatology

Sirkku Peltonen MD, PhD. University of Gothenberg, Sweden. Professor of Dermatology

INFER (International NF Educational Resources) is a series of online educational lectures for medical professionals by leading neurofibromatosis experts. The Masterclasses take place online approximately once a month, each on a different topic, and include real-time interaction between the expert presenter and the participants. The presentations are conducted in English, with real-time audio interpretation available in 6 additional languages: French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Russian, and Spanish. A recording of each INFER masterclass is then be made available online in each language for those who could not attend an event. INFER is an initiative of Children’s Tumor Foundation Europe, supported by an educational grant from AstraZeneca. https://ctfeurope.org/research/masterclasses-in-nf

BPNA Keynote Lecture - Prof Rosalie Ferner - Neurofibromatosis 1 in the 21st Century

‘Neurofibromatosis 1 in the 21st Century’

Keynote Lecture at the 48th British Paediatric Neurology Association Annual Scientific Meeting on 21st January 2022

Prof Rosalie Ferner, Consultant Neurologist and Lead Clinician for Neurofibromatosis, Guy's and St. Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust, London. Member of the MAB of Nerve Tumours UK and Trustee of Nerve Tumours UK