Could a countywide network help you tackle fuel poverty?

A Network could help target and amplify your message and help that's already available within your region. USEA can help you establish and manage an Affordable Warmth Network, bringing together partners interested in reducing fuel poverty from across the county.

Key features of our service are:

 

NETWORK CO-ORDINATION

Key officers from  local Councils, NHS Clusters/Trusts and USEA will sit on the Network Steering Group and are supported by the county's Fire & Rescue Service, Housing Associations, Age UK, Citizens Advice Bureaus, and other local organisations.

DEDICATED AFFORDABLE WARMTH HELPLINE

Our expert advisors alert callers to insulation and heating grants (such as the Green Deal and associated ECO grant elements), social tariffs and support organisations.  They also advise on available financial support to help the sustainability of assisting vulnerable residents, to ensure it's not just a 'sticking plaster' approach. Such financial support would include switching energy supplier, claiming correct benefit entitlement, saving energy in the home, and support from local projects, such as Department of Health 'Warm Homes, Healthy People' funding. 

TRAINING OF FRONT LINE STAFF

USEA trains front line staff in direct contact with vulnerable residents. This includes health care professionals, social workers and advice agencies. With training, these staff are more alert to the signs and consequences of fuel poverty and refer residents most in need. Maps are provided to highlight areas where the local incidence of fuel poverty is highest, so that effort can be more targeted, to greatest benefit of residents.

ATTENDING LOCAL EVENTS

Our advisors attend Well Being Days, Information Events and Health Fairs, as well as providing community group talks. Our switching days also help social housing tenants switch to lower cost energy suppliers.

GIS TARGETING 

When mapping fuel poverty in your area we'll take account of the factors that make residents more vulnerable including income, age and ethnicity, as well as the housing factors that contribute to more expensive heating costs, such as those areas that are off the gas network, or have a greater occurrence of solid-wall properties.

SUCCESSFUL MODEL

The model has proved itself to be successful and Affordable Warmth Networks have now been established across Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and Milton Keynes.

We'd like to have the opportunity to demonstrate how this best-practise model could work in your region, so please contact us to register your interest and to find out more.