We help householders who are struggling to heat their homes properly. We also support and gently challenge Local Authorities, Housing Associations, other charities and health bodies to raise their knowledge and aspirations around a cold home.
We help them by providing an independent energy advice service that is householder-led and rooted in both national and local policy, and networks.
Our work matters to us because there are to many people still living in a cold home today. This is impacting on people's health and well-being causing stress, loneliness and making it harder to manage long-term health conditions. Government figures indicate there are over 50,000 such householders affected in the area we cover - the whole of Shropshire, Herefordshire and parts of Staffordshire. We don't think this is acceptable. As one widower with multiple health conditions said 'Thank you for the funding for a new boiler. It has helped me come alive again'.
We are also interested in the shift towards a low carbon society and how that might be brought about. Realistically there isn't a great deal we can do on this at the moment as the policy landscape remains unfavourable, but we seek and develop opportunities where the opportunity allows.
We currently run 6 independent energy advice services for Local Authorities in the West Midlands supporting around 2,000 householders a year. This is principally through a phone-line, but also includes home visits, intensive support, advocacy, workshops, training and awareness raising.
We also plug into national energy policy and work closely with installers to access funding. We also use our relationships to promote fuel poverty as an issue, to create additional funding pots to support more vulnerable householders, and to work with a wide range of partners to build new funding streams to maintain and enhance our service.
