Helping those most affected by poverty in Britain today.

We are a small group that operates solely online. We maintain a ‘watchful eye’ on help forums and pages for people in dire need of financial assistance. We were first formed in very early 2013 and since our inception, we have managed to raise and distribute over £700,000 to people in poverty, be it fuel poverty, food poverty or any other kind of poverty. In 2019 that figure was £200,000 and we set ourselves the target to raise and distribute over £1m – we are so close now!   When we were tiny, we operated a zero overhead policy, meaning all donations went straight to those in need. Now we are bigger, we have valued part-time employees to manage the volume of referrals, but we still have distributed 88% of all income to those in need over the years, keeping as close as possible to our roots while still paying a living wage. Many of our recipients are working families, who are finding that the money they earn doesn’t cover the constantly rising food/heating bills.  We have also aided disabled people who have been declared ‘fit for work’, who have been left with no income and no job prospects, as well as folk who have been victims of crime in the form of muggings or theft. We are grateful to various Police services for their assistance in getting donations to these people.

We operate entirely anonymously, as it was decided early on that we did not wish to have any set ‘criteria’ for help.  The idea of giving potential recipients long forms to fill in to prove their need is galling to say the least, and would go against our belief system. For this reason, our agents monitor various online sources for people who we believe to be in dire need and put them forward anonymously to the other agents for their suggestions on how best we can help.  To avoid the risk of being defrauded, and because we have such limited funds, we offer only one-time donations and our own identities are kept anonymous.  We do not accept direct applications for help.

Although we hand out cash, the Biscuit Fund is primarily an exercise in hope. Most of our 50+ agents have experience of poverty themselves and know how demoralising and frankly depressing poverty can be, and how a small helping hand can restore faith in humanity.  We offer small cash donations, for food and fuel, giving needy folk just a little helping hand when they need it most, without making them feel humiliated or making them wait in line.  Sometimes all that is needed is £20 to top up the electricity meter, or some groceries to last them out until their next payment, be it from benefits or salary. Our most requested need for help is for food, as recipients are often found to be missing meals to feed their children, and haven’t had a square meal themselves in days.  

This is what we do. We love it. We believe in it. We believe in giving people just a tiny bit of hope.