Open Doors Grants Programme

Be a service user of Family Action or an authorised partner of the Open Doors programme.

Have right of residency in the United Kingdom.

Be in receipt of one or more of the following means-tested benefits* (evidence will be required):

• Universal Credit
• Pension Credit
• Housing Benefit
• Council Tax Support
• Working Tax Credit
• Child Tax Credit
• Income-based JSA
• Income-related ESA
• Income Support

* We recognise that there may be exceptional circumstances where an applicant is not currently in receipt of means-tested benefits at the time of submitting the application. If this is the case you will be expected to provide a detailed explanation on the application form and we may need to defer the application in order to ask for more information.

Be experiencing severe and multiple disadvantage (SMD), i.e. experiencing at least two of the following simultaneously at the time the application is submitted:

• Serious mental health illness. For the purposes of this grants programme a “serious mental health illness” is defined as a “clinical diagnosis” of a mental health illness.
• Homelessness/at imminent risk of being made homeless*. For the purposes of this grants programme “homeless” is defined as one of the following:

• • Sleeping rough or sofa surfing.
  • Living in temporary accommodation such as a refuge, hostel or B&B.
  • Moving into new accommodation within 9 weeks of the application being submitted immediately following a period of homelessness.
  • Being issued with an “Outright Possession Order” or an “Eviction Notice” which means a home must be vacated within 28 days.
• Domestic abuse
• Sexual exploitation
• Substance misuse
• Frequent contact with the criminal justice system (but not in prison)

*PLEASE NOTE those who have so far only been issued with a Section 21 “Notice of Seeking Possession” will NOT be accepted as homeless for this grants programme.

• Those who do not meet the eligibility criteria detailed above.
• Service users from organisations that are not partners of the Open Doors programme or Family Action.
• Asylum seekers or those with no recourse to public funds.
• Employees of the referring organisation and members of their family.
• Employees of Family Action and members of their family.
• Applicants with savings of over £1,000 OR applicants with savings of over £3,000 who are setting up home in an unfurnished property following homelessness and loss of their belongings.

Authorised members of staff from partner organisations only.  Partner organisations are:

• Adferiad Recovery
• Bethany Christian Trust
• Birmingham & Solihull Women’s Aid
• Extern Northern Ireland
• Family Action
• Impakt Housing and Support
• Leeds Women’s Aid
• Local Solutions
• Riverside
• Street Talk
• Via
• Waythrough
• Women @ the Well

• Family Action does not accept applications directly from individual members of the public. All applications must be submitted by authorised staff from the organisations listed in the section “Who can submit an application?”
• Staff of the referring organisation cannot apply for a grant for themselves, members of their family or other employees of the referring organisation.

At any time until funds are depleted.  If funds are not available we will contact partner organisations direct.

The average grant is likely to be in the region of £250 to a maximum of £320.  If the applicant requires more than the maximum amount available from the Open Doors programme they will be asked to explain how the balance will be raised.

One application can be made per family or individual in a 12 month period.

Grants are available for essential personal and household needs such as clothing, beds and cookers, smartphones, utility bills and rent deposits. Almost any essential need can be considered (with the exception of the exclusions below) if the application demonstrates that a positive difference will be made to the life of the applicant as a result of receiving a small grant.  The applicant will have to demonstrate that a small grant will make a significant difference in averting a “crisis” situation and that this can be sustained.

Grants are not available for: daily living expenses (e.g. food and travel); rent due or rent arrears; education or training needs, including school uniforms; laptops/tablets; business start-up or other employment costs; legal costs; recreational needs; council tax arrears; debts (except utility bills); fines; funeral expenses (including associated expenses, such as headstones); gifts (such as toys for birthdays, Christmas or other festivals); repayment of loans; bankruptcy; items already purchased; holidays and passport costs.

Yes, we will require a bank statement which shows the applicant’s name, address, sort code, account number and receipt of a means tested benefit. The bank statement should be for a whole month, show all balances and be less than 3 months old.

If the applicant is only in receipt of Council Tax Support or Housing Benefit, which may not be detailed on their bank statement, we will also require the most recent documentary evidence that they are in receipt of these benefits.

We may require additional documentation after the application has been submitted.  If this is the case we will contact you, within 2 working days of the meeting date at which the application was initially considered, asking you for additional supporting documentation.

Prior to submitting an application on behalf of an applicant it is essential that you obtain their informed consent to ensure they understand how information provided on the application form will be used and to obtain their consent to their data being processed by Family Action, for the purposes of making an application for a grant.

You will be asked to confirm that you have received the informed consent of the applicant before submitting an application on their behalf on the application form.

Full details are provided in the Terms and Conditions which you need to confirm you have read before completing an application.

1. Press CTRL and click on this link which will take you to the application form: https://family-action-trustsearch.org.uk/apply/welfare/intro.aspx
2. Enter your email address and click on the link to continue. Please note:  You will not be able to submit an application unless your email address has a suitable domain name such as “org.uk”. Generic emails such as “gmail.com” are not acceptable.
3. If you are new to the system, the system will ask you a few basic questions about you before creating your account. It will then email you a temporary password.
4. Click on the link provided in the email and follow the instructions to set up your account password. Once you have set up a password it can be used for all applications.
5. Click “Create a new Open Doors application” and complete the application form.
6. The application is saved automatically as you move from one page to another. If you wish to save your application form and return to it later click the save button on the last screen completed.
7. Click “Submit” to send your application to Family Action.

Note:  After you click “submit” you will not be able to make changes as you will no longer be able to access the application.

1. Press CTRL and click on this link https://family-action-trustsearch.org.uk/apply/welfare/intro.aspx
2. Enter your email address and click on the link.
3. When prompted, enter your password and click on the link. If you forget your password just follow the instructions on the screen to create a new password.
4. Either click on “create a new Open Doors application” OR select an incomplete application by clicking on the application number to continue.

Email the Grants Service at [email protected] detailing your problem and using screen grabs to illustrate your problem, if appropriate. The grants service will get back to you as quickly as possible. We review all emails and if our automated response does not answer your questions we will reply individually and telephone if necessary if a contact number is provided.

We are only able to offer limited telephone support so in the first instance please email your enquiry to [email protected]. Our telephone helpline is currently open between 1pm to 3pm from Tuesday to Friday. Calls will not be taken outside these hours however you can always email us.

1. You will immediately receive an automated email providing you with a unique reference number for the application submitted (please quote this number in any future correspondence) and the date of the meeting at which the application will be considered by the grants panel. A copy of the application form submitted is attached to this email.
2. You will be informed of the grants panel’s decision, by email, within 2 working days of the meeting date at which the application is considered.
3. If the grant application is deferred then you will have 2 weeks in which to provide the information asked for so that the application can be assessed. If the information has not been received within 2 weeks then the application may be made unsuccessful. If you wish to appeal this decision and can supply the information requested when the application was deferred we will be happy to reconsider our decision providing sufficient funds remain available. See below on how to appeal.

All grants will be paid, by BACS, to the referring organisation with the exception of Family Action where alternatives are available and details are provided on the application form.

In order to be able to provide the generous donors, our supporters and the wider community with the assurance that donations are directly benefiting those eligible to apply to this grants programme, we need to be able to demonstrate the difference the award of a grant has as made to student.

Feedback will be requested from the member of staff who submitted the application via email, or otherwise, as determined by us from time to time. The feedback provided must be anonymised and not include any personal data about the applicant.

We reserve the right to refuse to consider further applications for an individual or further applications from the referring organisation if we consider that feedback requested has unreasonably failed to be provided.

We reserve the right to request evidence that any grant payment made has been used for the purpose set out in the application.

The majority of unsuccessful applications are because the applicant does not meet our eligibility criteria so it is very important to check these before taking the time to submit an application.  The other key reason is because funds are not available – we have allocated all the funds.

If your grant application is unsuccessful and you would like us to review our decision we are happy to do so on receipt of an email detailing the reasons why you feel a review is required.  In your email please provide the unique reference number of the application in the subject line of the email and send it to [email protected]  We will respond to each review request individually as soon as we can which will usually be within 7 working days.

Please note we will only enter into correspondence with the referring agency that submitted the application. 

Email:              [email protected]

Post:                With regret we are unable to acknowledge or respond to postal enquiries unless an email address is provided.

Phone:            07816 408119 on Tuesday to Friday from 1pm to 3pm. Calls will not be taken outside these hours however you can always email us.

NOTE:  The grants service is open between 9.00 a.m. and 3.00 p.m. from Tuesday to Friday.  The grants service is closed on Mondays