What is it?

• Community Care Grants help people who are getting Income Support or income based Jobseeker's Allowance or Pension Credit who are likely to get one of these benefits when moving out of residential or institutional accommodation.
• They help people live independently in the community and ease exceptional pressure on families.
• They cover a wide range of personal circumstances and variety of needs and expenses.
• They do not have to be paid back.

Can I get it?

Do you:

• Plan to leave residential or institutional accommodation?
• Need help to stay in your own home and not go into residential or institutional accommodation?
• Need help because you have had an unsettled way of life and are being resettled by an organisation like a local council or housing charity?
• Need help because you and your family face exceptional pressure, such as family breakdown or someone in the family having a long-term illness?
• Look after someone who is ill or disabled, or has been released from custody on temporary licence?
• Need help with expenses such as visiting someone who is ill, or to attend a relative's funeral?
• Need help because you or your family are in a similar situation to any of the above?

If you answered YES to one of these questions, you can apply for a Community Care Grant.

What else should I know?

Community Care Grants are part of the Social Fund. Whether you can get a Community Care Grant will depend on your particular circumstances. Payments are discretionary and subject to certain conditions.

Savings of more than £500 will usually affect how much you can get (£1,000 if you or your partner are aged 60 or over).

(We use partner to mean a person you are married to or a person you are living with as if you are married to them.)

How much might I get?

The amount will depend on the circumstances. Grants from the Social Fund are not for a standard amount.

How do I claim?

You should apply for a Community Care Grant if you are in any of the situations mentioned above.

See Contact Us for details of the office you should contact for an application form.

It is important that we can be sure of your identity when you make an application. We may need to ask you about your background and look at any official documents you have to support the information you give.

You can download a Community Care Grant form

You can download a Community Care Grant form in PDF format. The form comes with notes that will help you fill it in and tell you where to send the completed form. This form does not apply to Northern Ireland. Please choose from the options below.

The Community Care Grant form to fill in on screen, is being revised and will be available in due course. In the meantime, if you wish to print out a form to fill in with a pen, please see below.

If you are having technical difficulties using this form please phone contact the DWP eService helpdesk:

Phone: 0845 601 80 40
Minicom (textphone): 0845 601 80 39
Email: eservicehelpdesk@dwp.gsi.gov.uk

Opening hours
Monday to Friday: 08:00am - 09:00pm
Weekend: 08:00am - 04:00pm
Closed on all Public and Bank Holidays

Community Care Grant , (to print out and fill in with a pen). PDF Acrobat

More information

Contact The Pension Service .

Other help

Jobseeker's Allowance
Income Support
Social Fund

Remember that this information is only a general guide to benefits and schemes, and is not a full and authoritative statement of the law. We have made every effort to ensure that the information on DWP Website is correct as at August 2003.