How does your organisation implement/promote cash first approaches?
The original test of change was carried out in through a Scottish Government Cash First grant, led by Edinburgh Health & Social Care Partnership. This was in the Family and Household Support service and launched in October 2024, and took a 'Cash First' approach to addressing food and fuel poverty, focusing on immediate relief and engaging in meaningful conversations about the underlying causes.
Initially, we used a test site and control site model in two areas of the city. As of June 2025, the 4 locality teams now follow the same cash first approach, operating a city-wide offer with daily drop-in services from 9 AM to 5 PM., including ‘Pop up’ drop in sessions at 2 local libraries, a food bank, a school setting (Team Around the Community) and at a city-centre clothes bank and community café.
Services provided were:
· Immediate support for people presenting with food or fuel poverty which could include a Cash Payment of £30 (the payment amount was increased to £50 following feedback from people with lived experience and staff teams), a £59 Fuel voucher (Fuel voucher funding is provided by the Fuel Bank Foundation as an existing part of the Family and Household Support Service), support to access Scottish Welfare Fund, referral to The Advice Line (Council's Income Maximisation Service) or a same or next-day benefits check, and access to the Lightning Reach financial support portal.
· Additional Supports through onward referrals to wraparound support services including income maximisation, debt support, energy advice, access GP and health services, education, community-based services, housing repairs team, children and families support and food pantries. Ongoing visiting support from Family and Housing Support Team where required.
· Follow-Up appointments were offered to everyone. These appointments were within 7 days and another at 4 weeks with the same team member, if possible. People needing more support could be assigned a keyworker for ongoing support.
The Family and Household Support Cash First Project allowed us to gain a:
· Better understanding of the needs and challenges faced by everyone, and what is needed to support them effectively
· Slight increase of the number of people receiving welfare rights and debt advice alongside or linked to emergency financial support (including Scottish Government’s WFWF Hubs).
The Council has provided funding to adopt the cash first approach in other parts of the council including Early Years centres and schools.
What are some of the challenges you are facing in implementing cash first?
The “cash first” title can be misleading – the most important part of the approach is building a relationship with the person, asking about their wider challenges and circumstances and supporting them to address these
This approach takes more time than the traditional one-and-done approach e.g. where a person would come in because they didn’t have enough money for food, and be given a referral to a food bank
Have you used any particular resource that helped you take a cash first approach or helped you work through these challenges?
Staff training including how to have a quality conversation using the ‘4 Asks’ (relational approach)
· importance of recognising the holistic nature of people’s needs.
· What gets in the way of having these conversations.
What is one piece of advice you would give to someone who wishes to implement a Cash first approach for the first time?
The need for a referral to a foodbank is a symptom of poverty and wrap around support, including potentially a cash payment, is generally what’s needed
What have you learned from your implementation of cash first approaches?
The cash payment is best seen as one part of a toolkit to provide a more effective response to someone who is struggling for money, or other aspects of their life
