Crisis fund plugs the gap for thousands facing severe financial hardship with families in work among those needing help

Almost 4,500 families - nearly 15,000 parents, children and young people - in financial hardship turned to Action for Children for crisis support over a 16-month period to October(1), as the cost of living continues to bite in the run up to Christmas.

A quarter of applications for crisis help came from working families (25%) and one in seven were not claiming any means-tested benefits (15%). Frontline workers warn that beyond one-off grants, these families often have no other support.

The charity is receiving an average of 300 applications a month for financial help on behalf of the families and young people supported by its services. Three quarters of frontline staff surveyed said families they support are facing greater financial pressures than last year.

Action for Children runs hundreds of services supporting children, young people and families across the UK. To support its annual Secret Santa campaign to help the country’s most vulnerable children, the charity has analysed data from its Family Fund, in partnership with Nationwide (2), which provides crisis grants to help pay for essentials like food and clothes.

The research highlights the scale and urgency of hardship facing many families, brought into sharp focus by the government’s newly published Child Poverty Strategy.

Between 1 June 2024 and 30 September 2025, Action for Children gave out crisis grants totalling more than £800,000 to families across the UK:

• Food was the biggest pressure (39% of spending) followed by home furnishings and repairs (20%), household appliances (12%) and clothing (10%) – with these four categories of essentials making up 80% of crisis support spending.
• Over half of applications were for families in receipt of Universal Credit (52%).
• The majority of applications were for families with one or two children (71%).
• Almost half of applications were for single parent families (48%).

Action for Children also surveyed 173 of its frontline support workers to find out more about the reality facing families this winter.

• 76% said the financial pressures on the families or young people they support was worse than last year - including 34% who said it is much worse.
• 69% said they were currently supporting a child, young person or family experiencing poverty or extreme financial hardship.

Action for Children family support workers said:

- “I recently supported a family with a 9-year-old sleeping in a toddler bed as they weren’t in a position to buy a single bed due to the costs, and the family were already struggling to pay the basic household bills.”

- “I worked with a single young mum working 30 hours a week who moved into a property with her 7-month-old son with very little… She had no furniture, no carpets, a sofa she was given that was full of fleas. Her son’s bedroom was just wooden floorboards and a cot in the middle… her wages covered the bills but not much else and she wasn’t entitled to any other support.”

- “The families who are struggling the most are those not entitled to any Universal Credit or very little - they are just on the line. They do not get free school meals…they are on minimum wage jobs working all hours just to pay bills. It is always this group of families that get missed.”

The mental health impacts of financial hardship were also front and centre, with 71% of applications indicating the parent or young person was experiencing anxiety, stress or other mental health concerns linked to financial hardship. One in five applications (22%) said stress and anxiety from money worries was affecting the children’s mental health.

One Action for Children support worker said: “Children are worrying as they can see their parents trying to make ends meet, they’re not asking to go out with friends as they don't want their parents to feel bad when they can’t give them pocket money."

Brigitte Gater, Managing Director of Children’s Services at Action for Children, said:

“Action for Children’s Family Fund data lays bare the pain and devastating impact financial hardship is having on vulnerable families – and that doesn’t stop just because it’s Christmas.

“Our frontline staff are helping families every day who are trying their hardest and still can’t afford to put food on the table and keep their home warm. It’s particularly heart-breaking to hear of the negative mental health impacts of hardship on both parents and their children.

“The child poverty strategy is a serious step forward for families, particularly the scrapping of the two-child limit, something we’ve long campaigned for. But this change won't come into effect until April 2026, and not all children in poverty will benefit from it. That’s why we’re asking the public to get behind our Secret Santa campaign to help us support our most vulnerable children.”

To become a Secret Santa and donate to Action for Children visit iamsanta.org.uk

Sarah's story - Sarah is a single mum of one who lives in South Wales with her nine-year-old daughter. She is unable to work due to the chronic pain condition, fibromyalgia. Sarah relies on Universal Credit and other benefits and often uses food banks to be able to feed her daughter. Christmas is a particularly difficult time with the added pressure of having to buy presents and making sure her daughter can enjoy the festive season.

Sarah’s daughter was supported by Action for Children’s Emoji Project in Wales, which helps children learn how to cope with their emotions and express themselves. Sarah does her best to shield her daughter from her money worries.

“Every month is a struggle to find money for food and bills - we get by through the skin of our teeth. When we were on a pay-as-you-go electricity meter, we both couldn’t afford to have a shower so I would often let my daughter have one whilst I went without. The moment she’s not in the house, all the heating goes off, and it doesn’t come back on until she is home. Unfortunately, with my disabilities, my condition gets worse when I’m cold, but I just have to deal with it. I will always put her first.

“Sadly, Christmas only adds to the anxiety and panic I feel as the cost is so expensive and naturally, I want to make I give her the best Christmas I can.”

Last Christmas, support workers from Action for Children were able to provide Sarah with a £250 supermarket voucher, as well as a brand-new bed and mattress for her daughter, through the charity’s Family Fund. Sarah said it made a huge difference.

“Being able to give my child her own bed to sleep in was the best Christmas gift I could have asked for. She had been sleeping on a mattress on the floor after her old bed, which was second or third hand, had broken. I sleep on the sofa, so I couldn’t even give her my bed. I felt so ashamed and like I was failing her. She wasn’t sleeping well, and in all honesty, neither was I. The stress and worry were enormous.

“The food voucher took a big strain off me mentally too. I didn’t need to worry about food that month, and it freed up money for other things, like heating. It was like a huge weight had been lifted off my shoulders.”

ENDS

MEDIA CONTACT: 020 3124 0661 / [email protected]

NOTES TO EDITORS:

1. Action for Children (December 2025). Hardship on the ground: insights from the Action for Children Family Fund and frontline services.

2. The Action for Children Family Fund replaced and mainstreamed two previous funds that had existed in different forms since launching as part of our emergency response to the COVID-10 pandemic in 2020. This research focused on the latest iteration of these funds, called the Family Fund, that has been funded by Nationwide Building Society since June 2024.

About Action for Children
Action for Children protects and supports vulnerable children and young people by providing practical and emotional care and support, ensuring their voices are heard and campaigning to bring lasting improvements to their lives. With 342 services in local communities across the UK, in schools and online, in 2024/2025 we helped 551,400 children, young people, and families. actionforchildren.org.uk