Stuart Anderson MP welcomes extra funding to help constituents affected by COVID-19
Stuart Anderson MP has welcomed extra funding to support local people affected by COVID-19. The City of Wolverhampton Council has been allocated £999,457 to help keep families warm and well-fed. It is part of an extension to the Government’s COVID Local Support Scheme, which has already seen the Council receive more than £1.6 million to assist local families.
The extra funding brings the total allocation for Wolverhampton through this grant to £2.6 million. In November 2020, the City of Wolverhampton Council was allocated over £1 million via this scheme. A further round of £369,174 was made in March 2021 and £249,864 in May 2021.
Between December 2020 and April 2021, over £1.4 million was spent on more than 47,000 payments to vulnerable households across Wolverhampton. 92% of this was paid to families with children and 86% helped with the cost of food and utility bills. Formerly known as the COVID Winter Grant Scheme, the grants have helped those most in need buy essentials, with at least 80% of funds ring-fenced to be spent on food, energy, and water bills and a further 20% to help with other associated essential costs.
The extension is worth £160 million. It will ensure that assistance continues to be in place beyond the planned ending of restrictions. This is part of a multi-million-pound package of support including the Holiday Activities and Food programme, which has been scaled up to provide disadvantaged children across the whole of England with healthy meals and enriching activities during the school holidays. Wolverhampton’s allocation of funding stands at more than £1.8 million.
Stuart Anderson MP said: “As we plan our recovery from COVID-19; I want to ensure that everyone is included. The Local Support Grant helps the most vulnerable families in our community with the cost of food and utility bills. This extra funding brings our overall allocation to more than £2 million. Together with another £1.8 million to provide disadvantaged children with healthy meals and enriching activities during the school holidays, this unprecedented package of support will ensure that our families and communities continue to be at the heart of our recovery.”