In the face of an intensifying cost of living crisis the community of Hope Church Islington has been exploring ways of bringing and being hope to those around us.

This Winter Hardship Fund is one such response. Members of our church have donated money into a centrally held fund which is to be distributed to individuals from our community facing financial hardship this winter.

These hardship grants will generally be one-off small grants of around £150, and will be awarded fortnightly between December 2023 and March 2024, whilst funds last. The grants are primarily aimed at members of the community attending regular Hope activities, but applications from the wider parish community will also be considered.

In these pages you will find information about how to apply to the fund, how to make a donation to the fund, and some details of the governance and procedures by which the fund is administered. However, they are by no means binding: the fund is ultimately a discretionary fund and it is the desire of the Winter Hardship Fund committee that this money would alleviate financial strain and bring hope where there is need, so please do not hesitate to contact us if you think we might be able to help you. For this, or any questions you might have email us at info@hopechurchislington.org.

The Winter Hardship Fund Committee

Matt Way, Priest-in-Charge

Verity Myers, PCC Representative

Sandra Bull, PCC Representative

Chloe Selby, Operations Manager

The most straightforward way to apply for the fund is electronically, via our website. If you consider yourself to be in financial hardship, and you are part of the Hope Church Islington community, whilst funds last, you are eligible to receive a £150 grant to support you through the cost of living crisis. If applying through our website is not possible for you, we will also have paper copies available of the application form, which you’ll be able to find in the lobby at St Mary Magdalene. Please complete the application form, and return it to a member of the staff team for processing.

Eligibility to Access the Winter Hardship Fund

The aim of the committee is to place as little barrier to access to the fund as possible, whilst also being mindful of the capacity and limitations of a church-based fund from the generosity of community members. With that in mind, the Winter Hardship will be shared primarily with the community of Hope Church Islington, and that includes both those who regularly attend Sunday Services, and/or those who participate in weekly activities at church, including but not limited to: A Little Hope, Tuesday Tea, Midweek Groups, and Bellringing. Though this will be the primary focus of the fund, any applications from the community who live within the parish will also be considered. If you’re not sure if you live in our parish you can find out on the Church of Enlgand’s ‘A Church Near You’ website.

In order to ensure that the most number of people possible are able to benefit from the fund, applications will generally be considered on a 1-per-household basis, though some exceptions will be considered on a case by case basis, when additional covering information is provided, either through a written submission in addition to the application form, or via a telephone call to follow up the application.

Between 1st December 2023 and 31st March 2024, anyone is welcome to donate to the Hope Church Islington Winter Hardship Fund via the following three methods:

Electronic Bank Transfer

Please make sure to include the reference “hardship23” in your donation to make sure that funds donated are used specifically for this purpose.

Account Name: Hope Church Islington

Account Number: 50342971

Sort Code: 40-11-58

Reference: hardship23

Cash

You can donate by cash, either on a Sunday into our giving plate, or directly to a member of the staff team. Please be sure to put your cash donation in an envelope and label it “Winter Hardship Fund 2023-2024”.

Cheques

Cheques should be made payable to Hope Church Islington; please make sure you write on the back of the cheque “Winter Hardship Fund 2023-2024” to ensure your donation goes to the right place.

What happens if… you cannot wait for the next payment run in two weeks’ time?

If you need help urgently, please tell us! In addition to submitting an application, send us an email, give us a call, or simply come and speak to a member of the church team. The committee is keen to consider how we might be able to help you and will meet to do so. It’s important to highlight here that this fund is intended to work more like a small benefit than a crisis response, so it might be that we point you in the direction of other support, but please do not hesitate to let us know.

What happens if… you need more than £150 to help you through?

If you need more than £150, please tell us! In addition to your application, please provide some supporting information to help us to understand your predicament, and the committee will review your case to see how we might be able to help. We may need to speak with you to discuss your request in more detail, but we would love to see how we might help so please do not hesitate to let us know.

What happens if… the number of applications we receive exceeds the funds we have available to us?

As this is the first year offering this kind of support, it is very difficult to anticipate how many applications the fund might receive over the winter period. It is therefore, likewise, very difficult to settle on a standard award amount that will not leave the fund either underutilised or oversubscribed. To this end the committee have opted to give standard awards of £150, but also acknowledge that there is certainly the possibility that our funds do not match up to the number of applications we receive.

In order to safeguard against these risks the committee will regularly review the number of applications received and reserve the right to make adjustments to the standard award amount in the interest of supporting the highest number of applications in the most equitable manner.

If we are met with much higher uptake than anticipated we may need to close the application period early, but we hope that this regular review will mean that all eligible applications will receive an award, even if it is less than expected, and that every award will be meaningfully alleviating hardship in our community.

What happens if… there is still some money left over in the fund on and after 31st March 2024 when the fund has closed?

If, at the end of March 2024, there is still some money left in the fund which has not been distributed, this money will then go into the central Hope Church Islington funds.

What happens if… I have more questions?

If you have any more questions or concerns regarding the application, donation, processing or awards process for the Hope Church Islington Winter Hardship Fund, please get in touch via email at info@hopechurchislington.org, or telephone us on 020 7607 2203.