[Skip to Content]
Personal Grants: How Direct Cash Transfers Are Helping People Rebuild Their Lives

Personal Grants: How Direct Cash Transfers Are Helping People Rebuild Their Lives

Personal Grants: How Direct Cash Transfers Are Helping People Rebuild Their Lives

Wednesday, January 7, 2026

A UK-first trial, led by the Centre for Homelessness Impact, is giving £2,000 directly to people with recent experience of rough sleeping or temporary accommodation, with no conditions. Early findings, reported in the Big Issue, highlight how participants are using the money to meet real and practical needs. These include purchasing essential furniture for new homes, clearing debts, paying for childcare, enrolling on courses and paying for transport to work or school.

Direct cash transfers and the Personal Grants project

St Martin-in-the-Fields Charity is funding this work alongside other partners as part of our commitment to invest in solutions that tackle the root causes of homelessness, as well as its effects. Through the Personal Grants project, funds go directly to individuals, rather than being applied for on their behalf by frontline workers, as in our emergency grants programme. Each person who receives a personal grant decides how best to use the money, recognising that the route out of homelessness is different for everyone.

Early insights from the first phase of the trial suggest that those involved saw improvements to their confidence, mental wellbeing and had an overall feeling of control. In addition, no adverse outcomes have been reported so far.

One person who used a personal grant to clear escalating debts told us:

“When I saw that money in the account, I was just – oh my God – and then I went and paid all the debts off. It just felt like freedom!”

Devon’s journey from homelessness to stability

Devon, who recently featured in our Christmas Appeal, is one of those who was supported through the Personal Grants project.

After leaving prison, Devon was sleeping rough in Oxford and struggling with his mental health. But despite his challenging circumstances, he was determined to rebuild his life. With help from a support worker named Barry and a personal grant, he was able to secure a one-bedroom flat near his work and used the money to cover essential costs like fitting a carpet, buying food and furniture, and paying off his debt so he could focus on the future.

Having the freedom to decide how to use the grant made a real difference. As Devon puts it: “That meant a lot to me, because I have the control over it, and I know what I’m doing with it… That gives me my own control, and for me to get that grant, I have to use it properly, to help myself.”

Access to a personal grant helped him turn an empty space into a home, and gave him the stability to move forward. Today, Devon is in steady work and making plans for the future.

You can read Devon’s full story and learn more about how the Personal Grants project is changing lives and giving people choice over their next steps.

Devon's story

News and Views

collapse/expand
  • Brain Injury Guidance

    Brain Injury Guidance

    Leigh Andrews of Change Communication offered specialist advice on brain injuries and homelessness through a digital...
  • End Furniture Poverty Survey

    End Furniture Poverty Survey

    End Furniture Poverty have recently spoken with the Frontline Network to discuss their important ongoing survey, seek...
  • Cover the Cost Campaign

    Cover the Cost Campaign

    Jasmine Basran, Senior Policy Officer at Crisis, talks to us about the Cover the Cost Campaign, asking the Government...
  • VRF Impact Report 2018/19

    VRF Impact Report 2018/19

    Over the past year we have given out 3827 grants totaling £1,156,805 through the VRF. Read the latest Impact Report t...
  • Influence from the Frontline

    Influence from the Frontline

    Frontline workers are crucial at giving insight into the viewpoints of the people they work with as well as the chall...
  • The Vagrancy Act

    The Vagrancy Act

    Crisis, along with others including Homeless Link, Cymorth Cymru, Centrepoint, St Mungo’s, Shelter Cymru and the Wall...
  • Influencing local decisions

    Influencing local decisions

    Zoe, Frontline Network Coordinator at Coventry Citizens Advice, talks to us about the Coventry Frontline Network and...
  • The Litigant in Person Network

    The Litigant in Person Network

    Martha de la Roche, Network Development Manager at Litigant in Person Network (LiP Network), tells us about The LiP N...
  • VRF Impact Report

    VRF Impact Report

    Find out what impact VRF had last year and how to get involved in shaping its direction in the coming year.
  • Housing First Scotland

    Housing First Scotland

    Please see here for the first issue of Housing First Connect - a twice-yearly newsletter for Scotland’s new Housing F...
  • Slaying the Dragon

    Slaying the Dragon

    Will Golding, Edinburgh Tutor at Crisis, talks to us about 'Slaying the Dragon'.
  • CPAG - Early Warning System

    CPAG - Early Warning System

    Dan Norris, from CPAG, talks to us about a new Early Warning System to record the impact of benefit changes implement...
  • The Hostile Environment

    The Hostile Environment

    Bethan Lant, a Project lead from Praxis, writes about the creation of a hostile environment for migrants and refugees.
  • Wrexham’s Crisis Cafe

    Wrexham’s Crisis Cafe

    Sinead Kelleher writes about Wrexham's Crisis Cafe, a multi-agency response to Universal Credit.
  • Frontline Worker Survey

    Frontline Worker Survey

    We are asking frontline workers to participate in a survey, aimed at those working with clients who are experiencing...
  • A map through conflict

    A map through conflict

    A Cyrenians Mediator writes about their innovative Amber Mediation and Support Project, a model of mediation and supp...
  • “A place to call home"

    “A place to call home"

    Hannah Gousy was seconded from Crisis to the Centre for Social Justice (CSJ) to help design policy recommendations to...
  • A London Nightshelter

    A London Nightshelter

    On 7 November we opened our church-based shelters for the winter with more churches signed on then ever before. Glass...
  • 'Step Up' at The Connection

    'Step Up' at The Connection

    Wyn Newman introduces the volunteer programme 'Step Up' that has been developed at The Connection for service users.