British Gas Energy Trust, Roundtable 7 – Alleviating the detrimental impact of fuel poverty – what works, what happens next

Theme: Women and Families 

By Miranda Corti, Trustee, British Gas Energy Trust   

As a new Trustee of BGET I was delighted to be able to attend our latest Roundtable held in Leicester. The theme for this event was Women and Families with a focus on both reflecting on what works well and also a forward-looking perspective on what happens next. We were extremely fortunate to be joined by several outstanding organisations who work in the field of supporting at risk individuals, especially women and families. Some of these are trusted partners who the Trust already supports in their invaluable work, while others are organisations also working in the field who may already work with some of our partners. 

The event was incredibly lively with diverse contributions from participants and plenty of food for thought. What we heard is that women and especially single parents make up the majority of individuals seeking help. This may be because they are left to put food on the table and/or to manage the finances or because of some breakdown in relationships. The demand on services is increasing exponentially as the cost-of-living crisis deepens. Many people don’t know they are entitled to support or don’t have the ability to access it.  

What we heard is that there are many things making a real impact on people’s lives and some of the key takeaways of what works include the collaborative nature of working across third sector agencies. The needs outweigh any competitive element, and the focus is on getting the best outcomes for individuals in need, including where that involves referral to an organisation working in the same space. Another important theme was that of respect and kindness, and ultimately showing love, towards the person seeking help. There was lots of discussion on how people are reticent to seek help, perhaps ashamed, they may be working and feel inadequate asking for help. The importance of showing respect, listening and ensuing they do not feel alone is of vital importance. In this regard, one off emergency payments were an important way of opening a dialogue with new clients and rather than being seen as a simple “sticking plaster” the appreciation of the wider relationship building was identified with.  

In terms of themes for the future, all were concerned about the short-term nature of funding and the practical difficulties and inefficiencies this creates. The restricted nature of funding and the need for overburdensome reporting all add to administrative load and reduce the organisation’s ability to deliver front line services. Organisations feel they should be trusted to do the right thing. An important point of note was how reporting metrics can drive more short termism as many interventions are multi-faceted and can take considerable time to work through, thus reducing the number of completed cases.  

It was recognised that the focus needs to go beyond warm homes to the wider issues of healthy homes, and the additional need for physical and mental wellbeing. Once people have these things they are better placed to being self-sufficient.  

Another theme was around communication. It was noted that sending a letter to inform people of fuel debt was inadequate and often letters would be put out of sight/out of mind. It was also noted how unhelpful Help Lines could be, with long waiting times, adding to stress and frustration and suggestions were made for more multilingual facilities to be available. 

The time went really quickly, and I am sure there were many who could have carried on for a lot longer. The impact of bringing people together and recognising collective challenges and also successes is really affirming and as an organisation we really appreciate the time and effort people put into this event. Our challenge is now to take these key themes and many other important points we heard and think how and what we can do in our future planning.