Little-known scheme offering up to £350 free cash grants if you have common illness – can you get it?
STRUGGLING Brits can get free cash grants to help with the cost of living if they have a common illness.
Cancer charity Macmillan has made the cash grants available to those living with cancer.
Macmillan's Financial Grants Scheme is there to help support those who are struggling to cover essential living costs.
So anyone living with cancer and who needs help with bills and other essentials can apply for the grant.
It's worth up to £350 and is a one-off payment and can be used to help with things like:
- Energy bills
- Home adaptions
- The cost of travel to and from hospital
- Any extra costs you might have because of cancer
Read more in money
But the grant is means-tested so both the following need to apply to become eligible:
- You have no more than £6,000 in savings for a household of one person or no more than £8,000 for a household of two or more people
- You have a weekly income of no more than £323 per week for a household of one person or no more than £442 per week for a household of two or more people.
Benefits like personal independence payments (PIP), disability living allowance (DLA) or attendance allowance (AA) do not count towards income for this.
To apply you can call 0808 808 00 00 or you can speak to one of your healthcare team, like a district nurse or Macmillan nurse, care professional or benefits adviser who can fill in the form with you online.
Most read in Money
If your application is approved you'll get the payment directly into your bank account or by cheque.
Other grants you can get if you're struggling with bills
There are around 8,000 charities and organisations in the UK that offer cash to help struggling families.
Turn2Us has a free grants search tool on its website to help find out what help is available to you.
You'll need to search for what’s available specifically in your area by entering your postcode.
Next, you'll be asked to give details about yourself, such as your name and gender.
You can also go into more depth by telling Turn2Us about your current health and employment situation.
Once you've found a grant you think you’re eligible for, you can put in an inquiry through Turn2Us.
You'll need to be logged into your Turn2Us account to apply - if you don't have one it's free to sign up.
If you're successful, you'll usually be allowed to spend the money on whatever you need to, but cash is usually provided for essentials and bills.
Meanwhile, other grants are provided to help households pay for white goods, which could be handy if your fridge or freezer has given up.
It's also worth checking you're getting all the benefits you're entitled to, especially if you've had a change of circumstances.
The quickest way to see what benefits you're eligible for is to use one of the three benefit calculators recommended by Gov.UK.
Each one is free to use. They are:
- Turn2us
- Policy in Practice
- Entitledto
Millions of hard-hit families are already missing out on £4,000 worth of benefits a year.
READ MORE SUN STORIES
In total, £19billion worth of government support is currently unclaimed, according to research by Policy in Practice.