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If you need urgent help with money, food or fuel

Last updated
6 Nov 2023

If you need urgent help with food or money you should contact your local council first.
The help they could offer includes:

  • loans or grants, such as the Scottish Welfare Fund Crisis Grant   
  • food, fuel and other essentials, such as through referrals to community food organisations and food banks
  • mental health and wellbeing support

Each local council has their own service and their processes might be different. You need to contact your local council to find out what support they can offer.

Some grant applications can take up to 2 days to process. If you think you’ll need help sooner than that, you should let your local council know. 

Aberdeen City Council Aberdeenshire Council Angus Council Argyll and Bute Council Clackmannanshire Council Comhairle nan Eilean Siar Dumfries and Galloway Council Dundee City Council East Ayrshire Council East Dunbartonshire Council East Lothian Council East Renfrewshire Council Edinburgh Council Falkirk Council Fife Council Glasgow City Council Highland Council Inverclyde Council Midlothian Council Moray Council North Ayrshire Council North Lanarkshire Council Orkney Islands Council Perth and Kinross Council Renfrewshire Council Scottish Borders Council Shetland Islands Council South Ayrshire Council South Lanarkshire Council Stirling Council West Dunbartonshire Council West Lothian Council

Further support

Get information about debt and money.

You can work out what benefits you could get with an online calculator. You can also get information about how benefits are paid.

Find local cash-first support

The Independent Food Aid Network have published leaflets which could help you to find local cash-first support. Cash-first means support that aims to give you shopping cards or vouchers and/or cash grants.

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