Healthy Start is a national scheme which aims to support healthy nutrition for children in low income families. If someone you know or support is pregnant or has children under the age of four and is in receipt of benefits, they may be able to claim free food, milk and vitamins for their family through the NHS Healthy Start scheme.

The scheme supports families by providing a Healthy Start card with funds on it to use in some UK shops. The card can be used to buy free fruit and vegetables (fresh, tinned and frozen) and milk, as well as free vitamins to support healthy growth and development during the early years. To find out more about the scheme, visit the Healthy Start website. Families can apply online.

Shelter offers advice on housing or homelessness on 0808 800 4444 if in England (open 8am - 8pm Monday to Friday; 9am - 5pm on Saturday, Sunday and bank holidays); 0808 800 4444 if in Scotland (open 9am - 5pm Monday to Friday); or 0800 049 5495 if in Wales (open 9.30am - 4pm Monday to Friday).

If you need some help with food, you can find your nearest Food Bank at the Trussell Trust or contact their helpline for advice England & Wales – 0808 208 2138; Northern Ireland – 0808 915 4604; open 9am - 5pm Monday to Friday (closed on bank holidays).

A lot of foodbanks need you to have a referral or voucher. In order to obtain this you can speak to us, Citizens Advice or contact Your Local Authority. You might have to provide some information as to why you are in need of support. For more information about this please visit this website.

For advice about asylum support, contact Migrant Help on 0808 8010 503 (open 24 hours a day).

Citizens Advice offer advice and support to overcome problems related to money, family, legal and health. You can talk to them online (available 8am - 7pm Monday to Friday for advice relating to debt, and 9am - 5pm Monday to Friday for advice relating to any other problem). Alternatively, you can call their Adviceline (England) on 0800 144 8848 or Advicelink (Wales) on 0800 702 2020, both services are open 9am - 5pm on weekdays (closed on bank holidays). If you can’t hear or speak on the phone, you can type what you want to say using their Relay UK service: 18001 then 0800 144 8884.

Step Change give free expert debt advice and money guidance. By providing some of your information, confidentially, they recommend advice specifically for your circumstances.

If you are worried that you, or someone you know, may be experiencing mental illness you can contact  Samaritans on 116 123 or on jo@samaritans.org (open 24 hours a day) or Mind Infoline on 0300 123 3393, text 86463 or info@mind.org.uk (open weekdays 9am - 6pm).

Papyrus is a suicide prevention charity for young people. Contact their HOPELINEUK on 0800 068 4141 (open daily 9am - 12am). 

YoungMinds provides information on child and adolescent mental health for parents and professionals. Contact the parent’s helpline on 0808 802 5544 (open weekdays 9.30am - 4pm). 

Switchboard(opens in new window) is a helpline for LGBTQ+ people who can be contacted on 0300 330 630 or chris@switchboard.lgbt(opens in new window) (open 10am - 10pm daily).

Maternal Mental Health Alliance resource hub provides links to a broad range of services and information for mums and families.

If you are an older person and need support, Age UK’s Advice Line is available on 0800 678 1602 (open daily 8am - 7pm). Age UK also has a free telephone Friendship Service so you can connect with someone over the phone. 

You can also speak to your GP or contact NHS Talking Therapies. If you, or someone you know, is in immediate danger then call the emergency services on 999. 

If you are a child and need to speak to someone, call Childline on 0800 1111. You can also speak to an adviser on the online 1-2-1 chat service here.

If you are concerned about a child, call the NSPCC on 0808 800 5000 (open weekdays 9am - 5pm) or outside of these hours by email at help@nspcc.org.uk.

Family Lives (in England and Wales) is a confidential and free national helpline service offering advice on different aspects of parenting and family life. Their helpline is 0808 800 2222 and is open 9am - 9pm Monday to Friday and 10am - 3pm on Saturday and Sunday.

Young carers are people aged 25 and under who provide care to a friend or family member who cannot cope without their support. If you think you might be a young carer please find further information about young carers and where to find support here.

If you are in danger, at imminent risk of harm or in need of urgent help please call 999.

To talk to someone about domestic abuse, call the National Domestic Violence Helpline, a charity providing support to women and children, on 0808 2000 247 (open 24 hours a day).

For further support and links please find more detail on the Comic Relief website. We credit the links and give thanks for the information contained on this page to the charity Comic Relief.   

What is StreetLink?

StreetLink is a platform that connects people rough sleeping in England and Wales to support provided by local authorities and charities. This includes anyone who is sleeping outside, preparing to bed down, or sleeping somewhere not designed for habitation, such as a car. To make these connections, the platform relies on alerts submitted by members of the public and people sleeping rough. Click link in heading above.