Funded Energy Redress Projects

Groundwork will offer a ground-breaking, one-stop-shop energy service in Rochdale, Tameside and Bury as a precursor to GM wide delivery in future.

With no cap on individual appointments, an outreach presence in the most disadvantaged neighbourhoods, training local volunteers as energy champions, and using our expert knowledge of local community assets, this project builds resilience in communities and will make sustained change beyond the end of Ofgem funding.

Every conversation counts and being in people’s homes dealing with energy issues is a unique opportunity to provide other wrap-around services linked to health and wellbeing – including indoor air quality monitoring, digital inclusion, flood resilience in high risk areas, financial capability, water usage and linking people to local community assets.

Key objectives include:

1. Build on an existing network of frontline agencies to generate over 700 referrals
2. Install small energy measures in 520 vulnerable households.
3. Agree tailored action plans which document practical ways to reduce household energy usage and keep warm.
4. Provide support/advocacy to represent consumers’ needs in the energy market going the extra mile to resolve problems that we encounter.
5. Provide wrap-around services linked to health and wellbeing

Energy Industry Voluntary Redress Scheme funding will pay for small energy measures in 520 households and creation of two key posts to carry out face-to-face home visits and outreach in the most disadvantaged areas, and to provide immediate triage support and advocacy to customers over the phone, tackling problems before a home visit is required.

The project is piloting four different kinds of technology solutions into households that have a visually impaired person with a visual processing disorder (VPD). The four different mechanism will be evaluated to identify which one provides the most benefit in terms of operability in relation to the level of disability of the householder; cost and practicality to enable the different interventions to be made available to all. Everyone participating will be assessed by a specialist in Visual Processing to determine which technology is most likely to be effective and any other support that they might need. Advice on energy saving and management will also be given, specifically addressed towards those who have visual impairments and any participants who are eligible for works under Eco (which is likely to be all those taking part as they are classed as Vulnerable with a disability) but have not had any work carried out, will have it made accessible to them, maximising the opportunity to enhance the benefits and show what is possible if the correct interventions take place.

We will develop a Community Energy Champion Programme to support those hard to reach vulnerable residents who wouldn’t otherwise engage with our existing affordable warmth service and welfare provision. Our Energy Champion programme will recruit 10 local volunteers from fuel poverty hotspot areas from across the borough to become Community Energy Champions. The volunteers will be recruited based on their existing connections to their local communities and the knowledge and understanding they have of their local areas. They would act as connectors and enable those families who wouldn’t necessarily seek help from public services to access the relevant advice and support. The Champions would help to breakdown those fears and act as link between front line services and the local community.

Our Community Energy Champions will be up skilled and trained to provide brief advice and interventions in energy advice, energy switching , fuel debt. They will understand the professional support available through the AWARM plus service, the wider welfare and lifestyle services and understand how to refer and access those services. The training would include Fuel Poverty and Health, City and Guilds level 2 Energy and fuel Debt advice, and RSPH Understanding Health Improvement, In Mind awareness session and Dementia Friends. As part of our bid we would like to recruit a champion coordinator who would be responsible for identifying, recruiting and supporting the volunteers.

Our bid will also include a PR campaign which would include resources to promote the programme and community road show events at 4 locations.

Barvas Estate Trust Community LED will aim to reduce fuel poverty amongst across the Barvas Estate area. Our approach is innovative, focussing on efficient cooking and lighting, which all households can do something about and will lead to greater efficiencies.

Through a joint partnership of Barvas Estate Trust and The Energy Advisory Service (TEAS SCIO) home visits will be carried out across this community owned land trust in the Outer Hebrides. Ebico Trust have match funded this advice project through the provision of free slow cookers and LED lighting for households within the estate area.

The project will also engage with the community to work together to develop a slow cooker recipe book which will promote discussion across a wide range of ages and capitalise on the potential energy efficient savings. Engaging with such a diverse age range ensures that knowledge and experience can be shared between different generations creating an excellent communication tool.

The home visits enable local residents to take up in-depth energy advice, which will be delivered when LED lighting and slow cookers are installed. Home visits include:

• Assisting the householder with energy efficiency advice.
• Tariff and switching advice
• Billing enquiries
• Installation of LED lightbulbs, slow cookers and carbon monoxide monitors
• Check for possible insulation measures
• Referrals to support agencies
• Income maximisation through benefits checks.
• Grants for measures available at that time.

To raise further awareness and interest in the project, community talks and school visits will be carried out in the estate area.

Sustainable Seacombe will support vulnerable residents in an area of highest fuel poverty, and low average income, to better afford their fuel bills and maintain adequate warmth in their home.

It is a twenty month highly focussed programme of activity that will overcome barriers faced by vulnerable residents and directly link them to the full range of support available.

A key element is to visit every home in Seacombe to inform residents of the opportunities available to them to access financial support for improvement measures, register for support such as Warm Home Discount, better understand how to switch supplier and the benefits of smart meters, as well as access support when facing fuel debt or other broader issues.

Working with our partner, Wirral Council, we will use a wide range of communication and engagement methods including home visits, weekly community events, social media, print and radio media, joining forces with other community groups’ activities, and word of mouth by residents.

We are taking an innovative approach of creating 52 “micro-areas” of 150 homes each receiving co-ordinated support. Residents will be encouraged to share their knowledge and experience with neighbours, creating the potential legacy of localised community support linked with other programmes such as Seacombe Lives. This will be supported by offering accredited training to residents.

Sustainable Seacombe is projected to support over 5,000 vulnerable residents and lead to reductions in fuel bills of over £50,000 per year. It will also see the installation of over 1,000 energy efficiency measures.