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Hardship grants

Are you a nursing or midwifery professional who needs financial support?

It can be hard to ask for help. Especially when you’re used to helping others. But everyone can feel overwhelmed, stressed and worried, especially about money.

The RCN Foundation Benevolent Service is a fund that exists to help nurses, midwives, midwifery support workers and health care support workers during times of financial hardship.

As a current or former member of the nursing team, you’ve cared for the nation’s health and deserve to get support when you need it too. Whether you’re retired, unemployed or in work, we can provide support.

The grant is a gift, so you won’t be asked to pay it back. 

Benevolent Grants take several weeks to assess and pay, so they are not able to provide immediate support if you need money in the coming days. Other options are listed in our guides at the bottom of this page. 

If you are seeking the Royal College of Nursing Strike Fund, please go to The Strike Hub over on the RCN website.

Before starting the form, check you are ready to upload:

Bank statements from all accounts you hold, for the two most recent months, and those your partner holds if you live with a partner


Evidence of the job role that qualifies you for the grant - if you are in a supporting role such as nursing assistant, your evidence will have to show you've worked in the role for three years and that the work was nurse-led e.g. three pay slips from a nursing home or hospital, from separate years

Evidence of any specific costs you're seeking help with, such as a rent statement if you're looking for help with rent arrears

If you don't upload these when prompted, your application outcome will be significantly delayed.

Who can apply for a hardship grant?

The application form includes an eligibility checker, so you will get an indication of whether you're likely to qualify for the grant and if you are identified as ineligible you won't be asked to upload documents or continue to provide details.

You do not need to be a member of the Royal College of Nursing to apply to the RCN Foundation. We are here for all members of the nursing and midwifery professions. This includes:

  • NMC-registered nurses and midwives who live in the UK and Channel Isles, including nurses who have qualified abroad and are seeking to work in a health care environment.

  • Health care support workers, midwifery support workers, nursing associates and nursing apprentices living in the UK and Channel Isles who have practised in a health care support role for three or more years, under the supervision of registered nurses.

  • Applicants who are currently retired or off sick having previously worked in these roles can be considered for funding, if evidence of three years' health care support employment can be provided.

  • Nursing undergraduate students whose funding has stopped due to illness, or who are fleeing domestic abuse, or who have experienced a bereavement of a partner that they lived with (please get in touch with the Foundation to discuss specific cases).

As well as having worked in one of these roles, you’ve experienced a change in your situation that means you can’t afford to pay for the essential costs you’re facing, and;

  • You have not received a grant from the RCN Foundation Benevolent Service during the last 12 months.

You can find the full description of criteria here, which includes costs the RCN Foundation can consider, and information about costs that are outside of the remit for hardship funding, such as unsecured debt, legal fees, strike action and funeral costs.

How to apply for a hardship grant

Set aside up to an hour to complete the form and have two months bank statements with you, for all accounts you hold. If you live with a partner, you'll need theirs too. They will help you to answer some of the questions, and you will be asked to upload them if you appear eligible for a grant. 

To apply using the button at the bottom of this page, you need to register as a user of the RCN Group website, or login to your account. Registration is free and takes under five minutes. Your contact details will only be used in connection with your grant application.

Find the application button towards the bottom of this page. It will be visible once you have logged in. 

The form starts with some questions which will help you get a quick yes-or-no answer about whether you are eligible for a grant.

The next part of the form will automatically check if you have any unclaimed benefit entitlements, and if you could qualify for a grant. If the form says you are not eligible, do not go back and change your answers to correct mistakes because it will still be coded as ineligible when you reach the next stage. You can instead go back to this page and start again from the beginning, or call the Benevolent Service team.  

If you are identified as eligible to be considered for a grant you will also be asked to upload evidence of your nursing or midwifery role at the end of the form. If you are applying because you worked in a nursing support role, the evidence needs to show you have worked in that role for three years, for example, a payslip from 2020, 2021 and 2022.

If you cannot complete the form and would like to discuss support we can offer, please get in touch with us on 0345 408 4392 to talk through options.

Applicants living on the Channel Islands should call us on 0345 408 4392 to complete a telephone application. 

Unsecured debts, such as loans and credit cards, should not be entered into the budget part of the form. We do not take these costs into account. Please also enter only reasonable, essential levels of spending for your other costs. 

If you wish to send details of a client you are supporting who has provided written consent for you to act on their behalf, please complete the form with their details (you can use your own email and phone details but please use their address, date of birth etc) and upload the consent document along with other supporting documents when prompted.

Once you've applied

You will receive an automatic email once your application form has been successfully completed.

If you meet the criteria for a grant based on the information you’ve written, we will check the supporting documents that you’ve uploaded. If there are any documents or information missing we will contact you.

If your application is refused, you won't be able to proceed with the form by changing your previous answers. You can make a new application instead if you would like to be re-assessed, or contact our team.

We can’t always offer a grant, but we do our best to support every applicant as much as we can, which includes signposting all applicants to other sources of help when this may be available.


To apply for a Benevolent Service hardship grant please login to the RCN Group or register for your free web account here.

Support and resources

We offer practical support beyond hardship grant payments. We have gathered expert information about the options available to you when money worries are at the forefront of your mind.