Signposting Hub
A directory of help available to you, ranging from counselling to gambling support
The RCN Foundation Benevolent Service is here to support you
Whether you're a nurse, midwife or healthcare support worker you can apply for hardship grant, and you do not need to be a member of the Royal College of Nursing to apply. Our hardship grants do not need to be repaid.
Who can apply for a grant?
If you have received an RCN Foundation hardship grant within the last 12 months, you are not eligible for another grant during this time.
If you have been suspended or removed from the NMC register, please email rcnfoundationbenevolent@rcn.org.uk attaching a copy of the allegations.
If you are a student, please take a look at our FAQs for more information about what other support may be available to you.
Progress of your application
If the eligibility checker asks you to complete a full application, you will normally receive a decision or request for missing documents within three weeks. Once a grant has been awarded, it can take a further week for the payment to reach your bank account.
Due to the high volume of applications we are currently receiving, there will be a delay in the time takes us to respond to your application. Please do not contact us to chase the status of your application as this will cause further delays. If you have applied for a grant, you will receive a response in due course.
If you are concerned, check your emails carefully, including your junk folder, in case you have missed an email from us.
If you enter details that suggest you are not eligible for a grant, your application will be declined early on. Our signposting hub can direct you to other forms of assistance.
If you have made a mistake on your application and want to change your answers, please start the form again from the 'Apply' button.
Before you start your application
When you apply, you will need to upload the documents listed below. Failure to do so will result in significant delay to your application. If you have any queries, take a look at our FAQs and Complete Criteria for Funding document.
If you are applying on someone else’s behalf, please attach this form along with the other documents requested below.
If you live with a partner, we will ask for a Data Protection Statement to be signed by them. You will agree to our data protection policy as part of the online form you complete, but your partner needs to confirm they agree to this too. If you complete the partner form here and attach it your application, it will speed up the process.
Benevolent Grants Manager, Ruth, shares her top tips to help you submit a hardship grant application:
Signposting
We understand that financial difficulty often happens alongside challenging events such as illness, bereavement and relationship breakdown. Benevolent grants take several weeks to process and do not provide immediate support if you need money in the coming days. You can find links to other grant providers, mental health and wellbeing support and our debt advice partner PayPlan, here in our signposting hub.
Applying for a hardship grant
We are unable to accept grant requests sent by email. If you don’t have access to the internet to apply online, please give us a call on 0345 408 4392 and a member of the team will be in touch to help you.
Issues with the grants portal
If you experience technical issues when using the grants portal, to help us identify the issue quickly, please tell us what the issue is and send a screenshot of the error message.
Issues with uploading supporting documents to the grants portal
If you have applied for a hardship grant, we may ask you for missing or further documents to upload through a link. If you encounter issues with uploading your documents, please tell us and email a screenshot of what you see.
Unless agreed otherwise, we are unable to accept supporting documents sent by email or post and these will be returned to you to upload directly into the portal.
You will have 4 weeks to provide us with information and documents we requested. Failure to provide the documents in this time will result in your application being declined.
