PLEASE NOTE: We have received a very large number of applications, and as such there will may be a delay in terms of assessing and responding to these grants. Please be assured the Grants Team are working hard to process grants as quickly as possible but it may take up to 2 weeks for you to receive the outcome of your application
Berkley have partnered with The Care Workers’ Charity to provide grants to help colleagues who are currently experiencing hardship. Grants of up to £750 are available to help you with things such as:
- Daily Living Costs (recent full bank statements showing current balance which is low or in overdraft)
- Increase in utility bills (which has resulted in arrears, late payments)
- Increase cost of grocery shopping (which has affected other payments/bills and resulted in arrears or overdraft)
- Travel expenses/fuel costs (which has affected other payments/bills and resulted in arrears or overdraft)
- Rent/ Mortgage repayments or arrears
- Increase in childcare costs (which has affected other payments/bills and resulted in late payments or arrears)
- Car repairs (invoices/quotes)
- White goods or household items (invoice/quotes, evidence that shows not financially affordable)
- Home repairs (invoice/quotes, evidence that shows not financially affordable)
- Letters from debt collectors
The grants will be independently assessed by the Grants Team of the Care Workers’ Charity, and eligible grants will be paid out once approved. You can apply for a grant towards more than one expense – please provide as much evidence as possible. The team aim to turn applications round within two working weeks subject to receiving the necessary documents.
THESE GRANTS DO NOT NEED TO BE PAID BACK.
The Care Workers’ Charity will contact Berkley for employment confirmation prior to grants being agreed. By applying for a grant you give your permission for us to do so.
Do you qualify for a grant?
- You need to be current employee of Berkley
- You need to be experiencing hardship of some sort
- You are eligible if you previously received a Berkley cost of living grant, however if you have also received a CWC crisis grant you will not be eligible for a Berkley hardship grant. We may be able to award a Berkley hardship grant to you if you have also received a CWC crisis grant but only in exceptional circumstances.
- Due to financial resources, if you have received a total of £2000 worth or more in grants from us, you are unfortunately not eligible for any more funding
The maximum amount you can apply for is £750
What employment criteria do I need to meet?
You need to be currently employed by Berkley as of 3rd January 2023
Bank workers must have worked an average of 24 hours a month over the previous 3 months
Do you take my finances into account when assessing my application?
Finance can help give us an overall picture, particularly if you are also receiving benefits but you will not be excluded from receiving a grant based on your financial information, however grant amounts are capped at maximum amounts set by Berkley.
What supporting documents do I need to submit?
- You must include a full recent bank statement. Your name, bank account number and sort code need to be clearly visible, as well as other details. We need this so we can double-check the bank details on your application are current.
- You must include supporting documentation that will help strengthen your grant claim for example:
- Daily Living Costs (recent full bank statements showing current balance which is low or in overdraft)
- Increase in utility bills (which has resulted in arrears, late payments)
- Increase cost of grocery shopping (which has affected other payments/bills and resulted in arrears or overdraft)
- Travel expenses/fuel costs (which has affected other payments/bills and resulted in arrears or overdraft)
- Rent/ Mortgage/council tax repayments or arrears
- Increase in childcare costs (which has affected other payments, or late payments)
- Car repairs (invoices/quotes)
- White goods or household items (invoice/quotes, evidence that shows not financially affordable)
- Home repairs (invoice/quotes, evidence that shows not financially affordable)
- Letters from debt collectors
What’s the application process?
- Your application comes into the Care Workers’ Charity Grants Team
- You receive an email which gives you your application reference code which begins with GA followed by a series of numbers. Keep hold of that number in case you want to check how your application is doing
- The email will come from grants@thecwc.org.uk – it may be in your spam email
- The team check that you meet the eligibility criteria, and that you are currently employed by Berkley
- The team check that you’ve included your bank statement, and other supporting evidence such as bills to show the cost of living increase
- The Grants Team will email you if there is anything missing or if they have any queries. Please respond to their email as soon as you can; we can’t pay you without the required information. Their emails will come from grants@thecwc.org.uk
- Once everything is checked and ok, a team member will mark your application as ‘eligible’ and wait for further confirmation from your HR representatives.
- Another team member does a final check, and approves your application if everything is correct
- Your details are uploaded onto our system, ready for payment and you receive an email confirming that payment will be made and will go into your bank account within two working days (during bank holidays there may be a short delay)
- The money goes into your bank account
What happens when I apply?
- Your application comes into the Care Workers’ Charity Grants Team
- You receive an email which gives you your application reference code which begins with GA followed by a series of numbers. Keep hold of that number in case you want to check how your application is doing
- Checking the progress of your application
- Click here: Home
- Put in your application number (starts with GA followed by a series of letters)
- You’ll see the status of your application
Application Submitted: We’ve received it but haven’t looked at it yet (we process on a first-come, first-served basis)
Eligible: Everything looks good and your application is eligible subject to being double checked by a second member of the grants team and HR confirmation
Pending missing information: – we’ll be emailing you to ask you for missing documentation
Approved: You will be paid in the next pay run (up to two working days) You’ll receive an email to confirm.
Paid: The money is in your bank
Declined: You’re not eligible because you’re not a Berkley employee, or you have not provided the required information when contacted several times, or you have already received a grant.
Closed: You still haven’t provided the correct information despite emails and calls. We have contacted your HR team as it has been a month since you applied
Information for you
The fund has now closed due to all funding being spent.
If you have any questions, please look at the FAQs here
If you have any other queries, please contact the Grants Team at the Care Workers’ Charity and they will get back to you as soon as they can. Contact them: grants@thecwc.org.uk