Energy Redress Funding - Round 8 Outcome

The following projects have been successful in securing funding in round 8 of the Energy Redress Scheme to deliver projects across Great Britain.

Thenue Housing Association
£73,846.08

This Energy Champion project will provide an energy advice service to around 500 residents in six Glasgow communities over two years. The service will specifically target low income and vulnerable households who are struggling to heat their homes and pay their energy bills. The service will be delivered via home visits and follow up appointments, drop-in surgeries and energy workshops along with information & training events hosted at local community centres.

Arun and Chichester Citizens Advice Bureau
£296,010.25

Arun and Chichester Citizens Advice and Citizens Advice 1066 are developing a new regional energy advice service across Sussex, Brighton and Hove. The service will be available to all vulnerable people currently in fuel poverty with a focus on targeting those impacted by COVID-19 who are “clinically extremely vulnerable”. They will also replicate the highly effective Citizens Advice 1066 phone service delivered in East Sussex and training will be provided to over 600 Citizens Advice volunteer general advisers to maximise reach and embed a culture of tackling fuel poverty. 

Citizens Advice Rossendale and Hyndburn
£93,278.22

Citizens Advice Rossendale & Hyndburn & the Homewise Society will deliver a holistic energy advice service to the most vulnerable households in Rossendale, Hyndburn and Ribble Valley. The service will be delivered face-to-face with outreach and home visits (where possible), over the phone and by email, helping people to access energy saving measures & services, as well as the support they need for emotional, physical and financial health. Advisers and volunteers will be trained to provide quality fuel advice and the partnership ensures households have access to additional services such as a trusted handyman, minor aids and adaptations and independent living services.

Cloch Housing Association
£162,613.31

Energy Activators is an energy advice project targeting residents within Inverclyde’s most 15% deprived areas, who are in greatest need of support to reduce household energy consumption. The project is a partnership between Cloch Housing Association, Oak Tree Housing Association, Larkfield Housing Association and The Wise Group. The project will see shared energy advisers undertaking home energy advice visits to those most in need and holding monthly drop-in Energy Cafés in community venues. The project also involves an Energy Mentoring Trainee Support Programme that will provide dedicated training and work experience opportunities to local unemployed individuals.

Citizens Advice Essex
£346,466

The project will deliver energy advice to over 3000 families in vulnerable situations in Essex, Southend and Thurrock. There will be four new, qualified Family Energy Advice Workers who will work exclusively with key providers of children and family services to support families in the greatest need. 200 workers and volunteers working for the partner organisations will be offered support and training to increase awareness of fuel poverty and the benefits of the service. Families will be helped to stabilise and maximise income, deal with fuel and other debts, get better deals and resolve disputes with energy companies and will have access to legal advice to help them deal with landlord issues.  

Citizens Advice Cornwall
£97,604

Citizens Advice Cornwall will deliver a two year programme to enhance energy skills and awareness to young people not in education, employment or training (NEETs) and those leaving care. Energy Advisers will provide training and support including how to manage energy use, help with budgeting and advice on how to compare costs and switch energy providers. This will be delivered in small group sessions and 1:1 support for those requiring it. Advisers will identify, train and support some clients to become Energy Champions to work with their peers to improve awareness and energy management skills.  

Bioregional
£198,810.50

This will be a collaborative research project that seeks to develop a sustainable business model for social landlords to deliver low-carbon, whole-house retrofit for hard-to-treat homes. Over 12-months the team will establish a baseline of properties, tenant perspectives, risks and costs. Through systems modelling they’ll review existing solutions, shortlisting the most promising technologies, design and create specifications that detail whole life costings, different business models and business cases. They will also  identify opportunities for replication of the model across a range of typologies to provide a commercially-viable dissemination service package to the housing industry.

Torus Foundation
£165,045.06

Supportive Energy will be a unique energy advice service, delivering results for vulnerable and disadvantaged social housing tenants across the North West. Two qualified Energy Advice Officers will provide wrap-around support to ensure households not only receive quality energy advice, but also benefit from the wider support structure available through Torus Foundation. Volunteer Community Champions will be trained and supported by the energy advisors to give low level energy advice to their peers.

Act on Energy
£909,358.85

Warmer Homes West Midlands is an ambitious partnership programme to provide a universal, top-level energy advice service for the fuel poor across the seven urban local authority areas in the West Midlands Combined Authority area. This is a large-scale energy advice programme will help over 7,000 vulnerable households, create nine new jobs and help secure a further eight jobs. The project aims to reduce fuel poverty and improve the health and wellbeing of people with pre-existing cold and damp related medical conditions, through energy saving advice, energy saving measures an income maximisation advice. Advice will be delivered by a team of qualified energy advisors by telephone, through case work, home visits and community events where it is safe to do so. A team of community outreach workers will ensure that as wide a range of people as possible will be able to take advantage of Warmer Homes West Midlands.

Burmantofts Community Projects
£355,737.72

Money Buddies Energy Plus's Advisers will provide energy and financial well-being advice in vulnerable client's homes and at 20 Foodbanks throughout Leeds and the surrounding bordering postcodes. Clients will have their own tailored Money Buddy Energy Plus Plan; a cooperative tool designed to motivate clients to keep track of their progress on agreed actions, including facilitating behavioural change, energy advice recommendations, dealing with debts and financial well-being. Advisers review progress with clients and find out what support will be required in the future. The project will work with the local Groundwork Green Doctor Team to ensure clients also have access to energy saving home improvements.

Scottish Huntington's Association
£203,309

Huntington’s disease (HD) is a hereditary, life-shortening, neurological illness. HD families face incredible disadvantage and severe financial challenges. The Scottish Huntington's Association's financial wellbeing officers will provide income maximisation advice, debt advice, future planning and support to households living with HD. A new energy officer will provide intensive energy advice support to HD clients and will up-skill the existing team. The aim is to reduce fuel poverty and raise awareness of energy efficiencies by providing intensive support with lasting solutions, to the their highly vulnerable client base.

Foundations Independent Living Trust
£270,848

Foundations Independent Living Trust is the charitable arm of Foundations, the national body for Home Improvement Agencies (HIA) in England.Their project will extend and enhance the HIAs can offer to Disabled Facilities Grant (DFG) applicants, who are identified as needing energy advice or measures to improve the thermal comfort of their home. There will be over 125 HIA staff who will receive training in energy advice and other associated topics to enable them to provide energy advice during 5000 DFG home visits. Over 1000 small energy saving measures will also be installed in vulnerable client’s homes to help them save energy and keep warm.

Peterborough Environment City Trust
£190,592.60

Cambridgeshire Home Energy Support Services (CHESS) aims to work with front line workers and volunteers to support vulnerable households to reduce their energy bills and experience the associated health benefits of maintaining a warm home. CHESS will train and support frontline workers and volunteers to identify and support households in or at risk of fuel poverty. Experienced Energy Advisors will provide energy efficiency advice by phone, undertake home energy visits, offer funding to help clear fuel debt or buy oil where people cannot afford to heat their homes and make referrals to other providers. The project will address the immediate and long-term impacts of COVID-19, such as unpaid energy bill debt, rising fuel poverty levels and will provide households with the information and resources needed to stay warm and healthy, whilst cutting costs and carbon.

Community Energy Plus
£49,931.54

The Warmer Tenants Advice Service aims to reduce fuel poverty for vulnerable tenants by addressing the issue at source - by targeting small private sector landlords and working with them alongside their tenants to improve the energy efficiency of poorly performing homes.The project will target let properties with an EPC (Energy Performance Certificate) rating of E to G, raising awareness of Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards and Housing Health & Safety Rating Systems. Through telephone advice and site visits, a Domestic Energy Assessor will support landlords and tenants to raise the quality of their properties by; understanding their EPC rating, identifying cost effective, low carbon improvements and securing any funding available to make the improvements.

Centre for Sustainable Energy
£43,937.50

Centre for Sustainable Energy will employ two caseworkers to meet the unprecedented demand for energy advice expected over winter and to manage the increased time, depth and complexity of cases from vulnerable households. Casework will involve dealing with and resolving issues of debt, accessing income related benefits, accessing energy efficiency measures (including heating), monitoring and paying fuel bills and switching tariffs. This will involve advocating on clients' behalf to their landlord, energy supplier or helping them with accessing grants, measures (excluding ECO) or referring to other agencies.

Citizens Advice Mid-North Yorkshire
£48,700.60

Citizens Advice Mid-North Yorkshire will increase their existing energy advice capacity to support growing demand from people in or at risk of fuel poverty. The team will help people with budgeting support, debt advice for those struggling to pay fuel bills, home visits to identify energy efficiency/heating supply measures, practical tips for staying warm at home, tailored training on billing/metering, energy complaints/resolutions, energy usage behaviours and advice on welfare benefits.

Citizens Advice Mid Lincolnshire
£32,250.41

The Citizens Advice Mid Lincolnshire (CAML) Energy Project will provide one-to-one advice and casework for clients in fuel poverty or at risk of fuel poverty. All energy appointments will be tailored to the individuals needs and address issues such as: understanding tariffs, bills and fuel options, energy efficiency measures and grants available, as well as benefit entitlement checks and assistance in claiming benefits. Clients will be assisted via electronic face to face, actual face to face, telephone and email with a view to providing clients with lifelong skills, resulting in an improvement to their health and well-being.

Further information on the projects funded to date can be found on the Energy Redress Scheme website.