Cambridge Solidarity Fund

Cambridge Solidarity Fund redistributes wealth among the residents of this city, which is known to be one of the most unequal in the UK.

We help those who are in financial crisis – perhaps waiting for Universal Credit, unemployed due to the pandemic, or simply in work and still struggling to make ends meet. We believe our recipients are the best judges of their own needs. This model - of no-strings-attached small grants - is also used by the Red Cross in crisis situations. We believe poverty in the UK, and inequality in Cambridge specifically, is its very own crisis.

All the administrators of our Open Collective page are also organisers for Cambridge Community Kitchen, a well-known local food solidarity organisation which won a Mayor’s Award for its work in 2020.

If you're curious about how we operate, or unsure because we're not a charity, take a look at the explanations on our website. We're also happy to chat by email - talk to us at [email protected].

If you want to claim from the fund, don't use this page - it's too fiddly! Fill in our form and we'll handle the admin for you. 

What can I get money for?
Cambridge Solidarity Fund provides financial support to Cambridge residents who are struggling financially for any reason. This money can be used for anything, from buying groceries to paying for prescriptions to paying rent, or whatever it is that you need right now.

You don’t have to explain why you need the money, or pay it back. We offer solidarity, not charity, which means that you are the expert on what you need.

How much and how often?
You can apply for funds of up to £40, every three months. If your application is accepted in a given month, you will not be able to apply again for the following two months. For example, if you receive a grant in August, you will not be able to apply in September or October, but you will be able to apply in November. This is to ensure that we can approve expenses for as many people as possible. We may have to change this policy depending on demand and how much money we have available.

To be eligible for funds, you need to live in Cambridge, in the CB1, CB2, CB3, CB4 or CB5 postcode areas, and be at least 16 years old. You do not need a fixed residential address to apply.

You don’t need to explain your circumstances or meet any other criteria.

How do I get the grant?
There are two ways to receive money:

Please don't apply through OpenCollective - you can use our application form at CambridgeSolidarityFund.uk or text 07908 661634.

If you choose the bank transfer option, you will need to send us some proof of address from the last 3 months. 

If you choose the cash option, we will need to meet you in person to verify that you live in the area.

People claiming more than they're eligible for
We are not the DWP or the police: we start from a place of assuming good faith and trusting people. We believe that everyone is the expert on their own needs. However, very occasionally people try to claim more money from us than they are eligible for. We don't pass moral judgement on people for doing this - we understand that times are very hard and many people need more than we can give. However, we have to be fair to everyone claiming from the fund and make sure everyone gets the same amount.

If we find out you have tried to claim more than you are eligible for, e.g. by not being honest with us about where you live or your identity, we will not be able to pay you out a grant. If we find out you have done this after you have already received a grant, you will not be able to claim a grant at the next opportunity in 3 months' time, to account for the extra money you have received. For example, if you receive a grant in February, you would normally be eligible for a grant again in May. However, if you claim another grant you're not entitled to before May, we will count this as May's grant, and you will not be entitled to another grant until August. If you do this multiple times we will do this as many times as we need to.

The fund administrators' decisions about this are final.

Data policy
We need to collect data about you to process your application. We will store data securely for our own records. We will only share it with the minimum number of people necessary to run the fund. We will destroy any data you give us immediately if you ask us to - you can do this by email or by telling us in person. We will also destroy it if we don’t hear from you for a period of 6 months.

If you choose the bank transfer option, we will submit some of your information to Open Collective to process your payment. This data will be covered by the privacy policy of Open Collective, who are based in the US, and as such data protection is covered by US law rather than UK and EU data laws. Their full privacy policy can be found here: https://opencollective.com/privacypolicy