Funded Energy Redress Projects

The Care leavers as Energy Champions project will with Local Authorities (LA) to establish Local House Projects (HPs) across the UK to prepare and support young people leaving care to ‘live connected and fulfilling lives’. This energy project aims to inform, educate and raise awareness of energy efficiencies by providing intensive support with lasting solutions so that this vulnerable group can avoid fuel poverty and sustain their tenancies. They will work with young people to develop resources that work for them, and with young people as researchers and energy champions the project is geared to developing a young person led approach. Young people will be supported to develop energy aware behaviours as they move to independent living and staff and young people will be trained as energy champions to support young people who already face considerable challenges as young tenants which has been further exacerbated by the energy fuel crisis and the cost of living crisis.

The Midsteeple Quarter Hybrid Heating Network aims to install an innovative aquifer-fed water source heating system in Phase I of the Midsteeple Quarter development, based on a shallow open-loop borehole system, and to test and develop this for wider implementation in neighbouring Midsteeple Quarter buildings and other town centre properties. The organisation has already assessed the potential for using ground source heating and establishing a wider district heating network and plan to use Phase I as proof of this concept by drilling two boreholes, connecting up the building and installing an aquifer-fed (or innovative hybrid) heat pump system to provide this building and neighbouring properties with low cost, locally-generated, low carbon heating. This work will confirm the feasibility of the system, commission the well and trial the installation in a mixed-use commercial and residential building. The exploratory well will be used as part of the final commissioned system if successful.

The Energy YourWays project will deliver intensive energy advice to vulnerable older people living in Scarborough and Ryedale in, or at risk of, fuel poverty. Energy Advice workers will be deployed to target and reach those in the greatest need, working closely with local authorities, the voluntary sector, the health sector, housing providers and statutory services. Eighty workers and volunteers from will be trained to increase awareness of the impact of fuel poverty on older people. The project will also raise awareness amongst partner organisations and provide a community “Warm Room” – utilising community facilities as a place for people to come during the daytime to reduce their energy costs at home and remain warm.

RetrofitCredits is a new service that will unlock investment in social housing retrofit by verifying the emission reductions and social value of housing retrofit projects and originating carbon credits backed by those emission reductions. It will centre the impact of these retrofit activities on residents and communities through the incorporation of social value metrics, so that the funding unlocked through carbon credits doesn’t just reduce carbon, but also improves lives.

The pilot aims to test this methodology on up to 3,500 housing association homes undergoing retrofit. In doing so, this project will facilitate significant capital flows from businesses making carbon neutral or net-zero commitments to housing providers, reducing the overall cost of funding retrofit activities.

The Keeping Warm this Winter project will use their knowledge, contacts and experience to put together a program of DIY training and home energy advice, that will be taken to where it is most needed within the city to alleviate fuel poverty. It will give people needed the skills and confidence to make changes to their homes and behaviour that would enable them to maximise the impact of the energy they used, and that more community workers needed to have a current and practical understanding of how to help families and individuals in crisis. This project will also provide a number of home visits, including a home thermal heat loss study, in order to provide draught proofing for those unable to undertake the energy saving measures themselves.

The Welcoming Home Energy Efficiency Project aims to tackle and prevent fuel poverty and associated risks by supporting New Scots (refugees, asylum seekers and migrants) in Edinburgh to learn about the local energy and billing system, implementing home energy efficiency measures and behaviours to reduce their energy consumption. Through home energy visits and one-to-one energy advice, project participants will be able to control their energy consumption, access financial support, improve their home energy efficiency, and apply for fuel debt assistance when required. This intervention will benefit all New Scots living in Edinburgh, as well as support local agencies and service providers to reach the most excluded and marginalised members of the community, such as newly arrived refugees and asylum seekers.

The Energy Advice on Prescription project will provide expert energy advice and support to assist vulnerable consumers in Bassetlaw to make better decisions and improve their current situation/crisis. Delivery will include an in-depth ‘Energy Advice on Prescription’ for individuals via face-to-face appointments, home visits and digital channels, liaising and negotiating with energy suppliers, coordinated social media campaigns to raise awareness and open pathways towards our energy team, community presentations and ‘pop-up’ events to consumers/front-line workers, increased partnership working with local voluntary/public sector organisations to educate on energy issues, targeting clients affected by fuel poverty.

Warmer Torfaen will support vulnerable clients with energy advisors to improve energy efficiency in their homes and source practical solutions to help client’s keep their homes warm. They will work closely with Building Resilient Communities within the local area. The Building Resilient Communities team provides emergency assistance, such as food vouchers and cash grants before signposting clients for further support. In addition to this, they will also provide education sessions to our partner organisations and community groups to raise awareness of energy efficiency and highlight the issues our vulnerable clients may have when dealing with their energy providers. These education sessions will result in further referrals being made to our adviser.

The Lancashire Women’s Energy Advice service will offer home visits allowing advisors to better understand service users' situation and ensure that those who cannot afford, or do not have confidence to come into centres still receive help and a robust energy advice assessment. To support this, they will employ a female handy-person who can perform minor repairs and installations so that the safe reputation of our service for women remains. They will deliver informative events and sessions in the community to target groups (Low-income families, carers, 60+, 16-25s) that will help educate and prevent crisis situations from occurring.