Cost of Living Fund

Our Cost of Living Fund makes grants to grassroots charitable organisations working to help the most disadvantaged in our county cope with the continued high cost of living. We remain dedicated to raising awareness and funds around this issue into 2024. Could you or your business join us in stepping up to this challenge?

The lack of affordability of essentials such as food and housing is still affecting many communities locally. Our recently published research Oxfordshire Uncovered revealed that rental prices in the county are 31% higher than the national average, and 8% of households living with fuel poverty. High food prices are having a disproportionate effect on lower income households, with reliance on food banks continuing to increase. As we go forward our focus will be on building resilience in communities, funding proactive preventative measures as well as frontline services.

Crucially, Oxfordshire has a precious network of grassroots organisations that are doing essential work to help people stay afloat. However, these organisations are experiencing huge increases in the demand for their services, alongside rising costs, which they cannot pass onto the people they help.

Donate to the Cost of Living fund
What is needed to tackle the ongoing cost-of-living crisis?

OCF is committed to giving ongoing support to grassroots charitable organisations over the coming year, helping them to build their long-term resilience. These charities will continue to provide practical support to enable individuals to survive in the short term, alongside robust support structures and preventative solutions for them to thrive in the long term.

We have raised nearly £600k so far from the general public, our generous donors and other funding partners; and we have delievered two rounds of grant funding totally nearly £560k. We would now like to raise at least a further £70k to support the next round of grant funding.

How you can donate
  • The best way to donate to our Cost of Living Fund is online via our Enthuse donation platform. Enthuse gathers Gift Aid for us and makes the process easy for you. Donate online now
  • Payment by bank transfer can be made. Please contact the team on 01865 798 666 or ocf@oxfordshire.org and we will share our bank details.
  • Don’t forget to complete a Gift Aid form to really boost the value of your donation.
  • If you would prefer to donate by CAF or cheque, please make it payable to “Oxfordshire Community Foundation”, write “Cost of Living Fund” on the reverse, and post it to us at 3 Woodin’s Way, Oxford, OX1 1HD.

A 25% uplift is also added to your donation via Gift Aid wherever possible. 

Thank you so much for supporting us in this appeal.

Key stats

  • In Oxford, one in six children live in poverty, one in nine across Oxfordshire.
  • Oxford residents spend on average half of their income on rent.
  • 23,197 households in Oxfordshire are in fuel poverty.
  • Around 1,800 households in Oxfordshire are made homeless each year.
  • In the year to December 2023 the annual inflation rate was 4.2% – over double the Bank of England’s 2% target.
  • The Office for National Statistics (ONS) estimates that UK household costs, as measured by the Household Costs Index (HCI), rose 8.2% in the 12 months to September 2023.
  • ONS data shows that rising prices are having a disproportionate effect on lower income households.
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Cost of living fund: recently awarded grants

OCF have awarded a number of grants totalling £263,528 to support charities and organisations continuing to respond to the increased cost of living by offering urgent support as well as building longer-term resilience.

Download donor report