FAQs

The Staff Hardship Grant fund has a limit of £1,500 per application, but the amount trustees award is tailored to your need and situation and our fund guidelines.

You are only eligible to receive one grant in a 12 month period – you can apply as many times as you need, but once you receive a grant, we are not able to consider another application from you within 12 months. This is because funds are limited and we want to ensure we can help as many staff members as possible!

If you feel that your application should not have been rejected, please get in touch with a member of staff at info@caretechfoundation.org.uk with any information you think is relevant and can help your application, and we will guide you through the appeal process.

Please let us know of any relevant changes to your situation as they happen so we can ensure that your application is kept updated so that our grant panel can make informed decisions.

You will be contacted by a staff member if your application is approved who will guide you through the next steps. We will never pay grants to you through your pay check as we are a separate organisation to CareTech Holdings Ltd and so we have no link to the HR or payroll system at CareTech Holdings Ltd

No! We are a completely separate organisation to CareTech Holdings Ltd and so we do not share any information with CareTech Holdings Ltd. Everything you tell the Foundation will remain confidential and we will not contact anyone at your workplace. If we need to verify any information, we will always ask for your consent first. Occasionally we have to reject applications if they concern a clerical or policy matter with CareTech Holdings Ltd and so we are unable to support. In this case, we may sometimes ask you if we have your consent to contact the HR department at CareTech Holdings Ltd to bring your situation to their attention to see if they can offer any more support.

• Debts for essential bills within reason (e.g., rent, council tax, and energy arrears) Please note that we do not fund credit card debt.
• Help with living costs during the cost of living crisis
• Staff members who are/have been sick with a serious/terminal illness and haven’t been able to work
• Travel costs to go see seriously ill family
• Help with costs repairing your home or car if it has been seriously damaged and you cannot afford to repair it yourself
• Help towards funeral costs (both in the UK and abroad) for a loved one or family member

• Luxury items or expenses (e.g. family holidays)
• Routine living expenses
• Reduced income due to a variance in your scheduled hours
• Other personal debts such as income tax, child support, credit and debit card, tuition etc
• Loss of or damage to your personal property that does not impact your safety, housing and ability to meet your monthly expenses
• Financial assistance that you are not obligated to repay
• Elective services (e.g. cosmetic procedures, fertility treatments)
• Payment of traffic or other related fines
• Private medical treatment
• Veterinary bills
• Debt management

We cannot provide advice on benefits or taxation issues and you should get advice from a benefits or tax expert on this subject.

Our understanding is that irregular charitable payments (such as Staff Hardship Fund grants) do not generally affect benefits eligibility and are not regarded as income for tax purposes.   Guidance suggest that such payments are not generally regarded as income for either Department of Work & Pensions (DWP) (welfare benefits) or HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) (personal tax) purposes.

If you get Universal Credit, DWP guidance suggests that charitable payments shouldn’t affect how much Universal Credit you get. If the money you get from a charity is treated as income when working out your Universal Credit, you should speak to an adviser.

Irregular charitable payments (like Staff Hardship Fund grants) typically count as capital rather than income.  If an irregular payment takes your capital above the current higher capital limit of £16,000, you will lose your entitlement to means-tested benefits, with the exception of Guarantee Pension Credit (GPC).  If you are receiving GPC, no capital limit would apply to Housing Benefit (England, Scotland, Wales) and Housing Benefit (Northern Ireland).  If you are involved in a trade dispute, charitable payments can count as income for Income Support (IS) or income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance (iJSA).

Whether a grant is counted as income for tax credits depends on whether the charitable income is taxable. You should inform HMRC who should be able to confirm the position.

We would also suggest that individuals contact HMRC to check their specific tax position.