Many people are facing financial hardship as a result of the Covid-19 crisis, and low-income families unable to budget for unexpected expenses are being hit the hardest.

It became evident in March 2020 that the providers of emergency financial support and assistance are at the frontline of responding to Covid-19, with many new challenges arising on a daily basis. To ensure we supported voluntary and community organisations throughout the peak of the pandemic, as well as their service users as effectively as possible, the Coordinated Community Support Programme:

• Collected the experiences and challenges faced by organisations providing emergency financial support during this Covid-19 pandemic, and fed this back to key decision makers in local and national government. 
• Provided up-to-date information packs and briefings for community organisations in our pilot sites and across the UK
• Mapped provision and funding available during the Covid-19 outbreak and charted the impact the pandemic has had on resources available to the crisis support sector
• Worked with local authorities and community and voluntary organisations in the four pilot sites and across the UK to ensure they are able to effectively provide the vital support to those facing financial crisis, and to ensure all those who need support can access it

Emergency Support Evidence Notes

You can read evidence notes on the issues affecting emergency support providers and service users during the Covid-19 pandemic. Emergency support providers wanting to shape future evidence notes are encouraged to complete our live issue response form.