LWPT has adopted the guidelines for grants and allowances
that were in place when LPMA was closed,
at the same time widening the range of beneficiaries.
Grants and Allowances
by Godfrey TalfordOn 13 April 2002 the General Committee of LPMA agreed to the following improved range of grants and allowances for Local Preachers and their widowed spouses to take effect immediately.
- Weekly allowances towards normal living expenses: £20.00 maximum, subject to the applicant being in receipt of a state welfare benefit and having access to available capital not exceeding £3,000 (£6,000 if over 60)
- Lump sum grants for extraordinary expenditure up to a maximum of £500 and in exceptional circumstances £1,000 if funds permit. Capital limits are the same as for weekly allowances. (The previous maximum grant was £250.). This makes it possible to make a more substantial contribution to the costs of major items such as invalid buggies and stair-lifts on which several members are dependant to enhance the quality of their lives.
- Christmas gifts for those receiving weekly allowances will be increased to £60.00 (previously £45.00). The Christmas gift scheme will be extended to include those who have received lump sum grants in the preceding year.
- Weekly allowances of up to £30.00 may be made to residents in care homes, whether or not they are receiving nursing care, if public funding is inadequate to cover the care home charges subject to available capital resources not exceeding £11,750 (£11,500 in Scotland!). (Weekly allowances in these cases were previously limited to £20.00 and were available only for patients in Nursing Homes).
- In every case allowances and grants will be made subject to assurances that the full range of statutory welfare benefits has been applied for, and will not be granted as a substitute for welfare benefits.