Jenny’s Story – Home Energy Grant and Return to School Grant
We know that 4 in 10 adults currently feel unable to meet the costs of their home energy bills. Thanks to generous funding from the John Pearce Foundation, Racing Welfare is once again able to offer a £300 Home Energy Grant to eligible individuals to help alleviate the financial burden of rising fuel costs. Find out more and apply: https://racingwelfare.co.uk/info-support/home-energy-grant/
As the cost of living continues to rise, there are few who have not been impacted by the financial pressures brought on by increasing fuel bills and the challenging economic climate we live in today – particularly when faced with unexpected costs.
That was the case for Jenny, a mother of three young boys, who operates a small, family run training yard with 18 horses alongside her husband. When a fault with their hot water tank had left their home without heating or hot water, they had no choice but to get it fixed, leaving them with a hefty bill. It was this that led them to apply for Racing Welfare’s Home Energy Grant.
Jenny recalls: “At the time we got it we’d just had to pay out on a new hot water system. With energy prices continually going up too, it was just brilliant that the grant did come up at that time.”
That bit of extra help can make a real difference on a day-to-day basis. Jenny said: “It’s quite nice to just be able to have the heating on, rather than thinking we’ll not put the heating on, or we’d better turn it down and put an extra jumper on instead.
I would definitely recommend applying for the grant and I’ll be applying again; last time we’d just had to pay out to get the hot water tank sorted and now the boiler has broken! I have told our staff members about the grant too.
Jenny first came across Racing Welfare when she bumped into regional welfare manager Lucy at the races, following which Lucy paid a visit to their yard. It was then that Jenny became aware of the breadth of support available, including the targeted grants.
She says: “Lucy was visiting, I was going on about how the boys are all growing so fast that they need a new uniform every year and the school says it has to be branded. It all mounts up when you’ve got three boys and they grow like weeds. That was when Lucy mentioned the Return to School grant.
“I’ve accessed the grants both through the online portal and via Lucy. Both were really easy and the portal saves your details when you make an application, so you don’t need to enter them again next time.
“There’s so much that you guys at Racing Welfare do – you even helped with funding for one of our girls to do a trailer test. I think one of the girls here has used the support line too – it’s brilliant, it’s like having a safety net that you can call anytime.”
Find out more about Racing Welfare grants: