CREWE-BASED charity the Railway Benefit Fund (RBF) has relaunched a fund to support families.

The Children's Fund, previously the Family Support Fund, offers extra support for families facing hardship.

It provides grants of up to £300 to cover the cost of the common and hidden expenses that families often incur when bringing up children.

This relaunch has been made possible by the generous support that the RBF received during Railway Family Week, which saw over £50,000 raised for the charity.

The Children's Fund offers financial assistance to support children in a variety of ways. The grant can be used to purchase anything from school uniform, sports kit and equipment, days out or school trip expenses.

It can also be used to pay for tuition fees, as well as baby costs for new parents.

The charity also runs a Home Schooling Fund set up to help with the urgent need many railway families have experienced during the pandemic.

From early January until February half term, the RBF awarded direct financial support to over 100 families, giving out over 170 pieces of home-schooling equipment to 217 children including laptops, tablets and printers.

The RBF have adjusted the criteria to apply for the Children's Fund and railway workers past and present can apply if their household income is less than £40,000 and they are in receipt of Child Benefit.

RBF Welfare Officer Ryan Morgan said: "After the incredible demand we saw for home schooling equipment earlier this year, we knew that we needed to make our Family Support Fund available to even more families.

Therefore, we have increased the limit on household income as well as the maximum grant awarded so that we can support as many railway families as possible."

Learn more about the RBF and how they can help railway families here.