UNISON’s charity, There for You, is offering help for members on a low income with a one-off, non-repayable grant of £75 per school-aged child, which will be paid in the form of a voucher. We want to make this limited fund go as far as possible and help as many members as possible. Please only apply if you are having financial difficulty.
The grant will be open for 24 hours from 12 noon on 28 May 2025 and close at 12 noon on 29 May 2025.
Applications for this grant are made online, and a link to apply will be added to the national webpage when the grant is live: https://www.unison.org.uk/get-help/services-support/there-for-you/school-uniform-grant/
Am I eligible to apply?
Please ensure that you read the below to check you are eligible for the grant, as well as the further information you will need to hand to be able to apply.
Applicants must:
- Be a UNISON member and have paid at least four weeks’ subscriptions as of 28 May 2025. Subscriptions must be up to date.
- Not have received a grant from UNISON Welfare since 28 November 2024, excluding the Winter Essentials Grant or the Step into Spring Grant.
- Be financially responsible for school-aged child(ren) and receiving Child Benefit for them**. By school-aged, we mean children aged between 4 and 17 years old, who will be returning to school in the autumn.
And EITHER:
Be on a low income, meaning a net household income* of no more than £26,413/year (£2,201.08/month).
OR:
Be in receipt of means-tested benefits. This includes:
- Universal Credit
- Housing Benefit
- Child and/or Working Tax Credits
- Pension Credit
- Means-tested Jobseekers Allowance
- Means-tested Employment Support Allowance
- Income Support
* Net household income includes your monthly take-home pay from work (plus your partner’s, if you have one), any income from child maintenance payments, any income from student finance loans or bursaries, pensions (excluding Pension Credit) and any income from people living with you (e.g. adult children or lodgers).
** Where members either have no recourse to public funds and their household income is above £26,413/year or have no recourse to public funds and don’t receive Child Benefit; an assessment will be undertaken to see whether they would be eligible for benefits if they did have recourse to public funds.
How do I apply?
All applications should be made online. Make sure you have your membership number to hand. Eligible members will be chosen at random from the applicant pool and contacted to submit supporting documents. Due to limited funds and in anticipation of high demand, we regret that we will not be able to help all members who apply.
If you are unable to complete the application online due to an accessibility need, please contact us on 28 May 2024, either by email: sug@unison.co.uk or by calling UNISONdirect on 0800 0 857 857.
