Hardship Relief Fund
Get help with basic living costs
The Hardship Relief Fund gives grants for basic costs to vulnerable Muslims in the UK who are unable to pay for basic living costs.
You can apply for help with:
- Basic Costs – such as food, travel, clothing and monthly bills etc.
To apply, you must be a Muslim living in the UK and be entitled to receive Zakat. To confirm that you can get help, we will look at how much money you have, your monthly income and expenses.
To apply for help from National Zakat Foundation you must have your own email address, mobile phone number and a device able to connect to the internet.
The amount of help you can get depends on your family size. The help we give is a one-off grant and does not need to be returned to NZF.
For Basic Costs
The amount of help you can receive for basic costs is based on your circumstances and family size.
The pre-application eligibility checker will give you an indication of the grant amount before you apply.
We may also signpost or refer you to other organisations that may be able to help you based on your situation.
The application form takes around 20 minutes to complete.
Once you have you sent us your application with all the information and documents we need, we will give you a decision on your application as soon as possible. You will be able to see an estimated waiting time at the beginning of your application. Please note that waiting times are likely to increase in periods of high demand.
If you do not give us all of the information and documents we need to look your application, your application will be delayed and you will have up to 10 days to give us anything you have missed.
Once you have sent us your application, the Hardship team will make sure that you have given us all the information and documents we need to look at your application and that you are eligible to apply for help. If there is anything you have missed, you will be asked to send it to us within 10 days.
We will then look at how much money you have, your monthly income and expenses to confirm that we can help you.
If we can give you a grant, we will email you to confirm this and arrange payment for you. If we cannot give you a grant, we will email you to tell you why.
We can give you and your family one grant from the Hardship Relief Fund 12 months.
To apply for help with Basic Costs, you will need to give us the following documents:
Photo ID – for you, your wife/husband and children under 18. We accept the following identification documents:
- Passport
- Full UK Photocard Driving License (can also be used as proof of address)
- EEA member state identity card
- Application Registration Card (ARC card for asylum seekers) – Must be
valid - Biometric Residence Permit (BRP card) – Must be valid
Proof of address – We accept the following documents to verify your address:
- Full UK Photocard Driving License
- Utility bill (gas, electric, satellite television, landline phone bill) issued
within the last three months - UK Bank Statement dated in the last 3 months
- National Asylum Support Service (NASS) tenancy letter dated in the last 6
months. - Letter from solicitor stating your full address/location dated in the last 3
months - Letter from NZF approved referral agency stating your full
address/location dated in the last 3 months - Council or housing association rent card for the current year
- NHS Medical card or letter of confirmation from GP’s practice of
registration with the surgery
Bank statements – We will need 3 full months of bank statements for all your bank accounts. For example, if you send us your application on 2nd January, you will need to give us bank statements for October, November and December.
Universal Credit – If you receive Universal Credit you will be asked to provide your most recent statement. You can access your online account here: https://www.gov.uk/sign-in-universal-credit
How will the help be given?
If you have a bank account, we will send the money into your account.
If you do not have a bank account, you will need to get one.
In some cases, we can send you money through the Post Office through a pay-out service by sending you a voucher code by email. You will need to have ID for this service.
If you do not have an email address, you can make one for a free here.
Although we may not be able to help everyone who applies to us, we are committed to providing a high-quality service to all our applicants. If something goes wrong, we need you to tell us about it. We will use the information you give us to help improve our service.
If you are not happy about any part of our service, please contact us via this page.
What will happen next?
We will reply to your email to confirm that we have received it within 5 working days.
We will look into your complaint. A Senior Grants Officer will review any evidence available and speak to members of staff if appropriate.
We will aim to reply to your complaint within 10 working days. If this is not possible, we will send you an update.
If you are not happy with our response to your complaint, you can ask for this to be reviewed by the Head of Service Delivery. The Head of Service Delivery will then review your complaint and respond to you directly.
For more information on applying to the Hardship Relief Fund, please send us a message by clicking on the tab below.
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