British Red Cross and Aviva launch £5m fund for people who are struggling

The British Red Cross has been delivering food and medicine to those who need it most, making sure refugees and people seeking asylum are safe, and continuing its work with the NHS helping patients get home from hospital.

The new Hardship Fund will provide cash grants of £120 a month for up to three months to help people immediately meet their essential living costs.

People can be referred to the fund by frontline Red Cross staff and volunteers, local government workers or partner charities.

British Red Cross and Aviva aim to support 13,000 of the most vulnerable people in the UK via the Hardship Fund.

At the outset of the coronavirus outbreak, Aviva and the Aviva Foundation committed an additional donation of £10m to the British Red Cross to support individuals and

communities most at-risk during the coronavirus outbreak. In total, £5m of this has been allocated to the Hardship Fund.

The Hardship Fund gives cash grants to those hardest hit by the pandemic. These may be families living below the poverty line, those experiencing domestic violence, refugees and people seeking asylum or those who are homeless.

Alex Fraser, director at the British Red Cross, said: “We know that people are struggling financially right now.

"Thanks to funding from our partner, Aviva, and the Aviva Foundation, we’ve created a Hardship Fund to help support people most financially impacted by coronavirus.

“Cash grants give people the support they need through the coronavirus outbreak with dignity. Every household has different needs. With the cash grants, people can buy exactly what they want and need. A grant could also cover other costs, such as rent or fuel payments, or it could buy a few minutes of mobile phone credit so you can let your loved ones know that you are OK.

“We believe it is crucial that people affected by crises, including the coronavirus outbreak, should be at the centre of any humanitarian response. The Hardship Fund will get support to people quickly and enable them to manage their finances independently.”

Maurice Tulloch, CEO of Aviva, said: “Since 2016, Aviva and the British Red Cross have worked in partnership to build stronger, more resilient communities in the UK and around the world.

"Today, in the face of Covid-19 this has become even more vital.

“Sadly, it is the most vulnerable and marginalised people in our communities who are going to be hardest hit by the impact of this virus. Getting financial aid to those who need it most is critical, and Aviva is playing our part to make this happen.”