The Social Fund is a government fund that provides emergency payments for different purposes. It provides set payment amounts for things like: maternity costs, funeral costs, and cold weather and winter fuel payments.
Source: Social Fund loans @ The Money Advice Service
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- Help for people on a low income – the Social Fund @ Citizens Advice Bureau
Excerpt: When you are on a low income, it is very difficult to budget for emergency expenses, funeral costs, the costs of a new baby or one-off payments for large items, such as furnishing a home. You could also be in a situation where you have no money coming in at all. There is money available for these situations, although it is limited. This is known as the Social Fund. The Social Fund includes funeral payments, maternity grants, crisis loans, budgeting loans, community care grants and cold weather payments. Winter fuel payments are also a type of Social Fund payment, but they are restricted to people who have reached state pension age for women.
