Enhancing Community Support – Providing Dedicated Money and Energy Advice this Winter
British Gas Energy Trust announces £400,438 of grant awards to support 16 not for profit, money and energy advice projects which will deliver enhanced services to support vulnerable groups in England, Scotland and Wales this winter.
These six-month projects will enhance service provision for harder to reach vulnerable groups this winter. All the projects take an integrated approach to supporting clients, with many working in partnership to reach individuals and families that are at most risk of isolation, exclusion and poverty. Advice includes, but is not limited to, energy efficiency advice and improvements, debt & money advice, specialist benefits advice.
The 16 grants will support 24 charities across England, Scotland and Wales. Each grant ranges between £10,043 and £30,000 and services will deliver between 1st October 2021 and 31st March 2022 as furlough and the Universal Credit uplift comes to and end and many more families brace themselves for a difficult winter.
Promoting a trial, deliver and learn approach, the projects will provide new services, solve persistent problems, or enable services to become more efficient at supporting the fuel poor this winter.
The grants are solely targeted at supporting not-for-profit advice services, helping to ensure as much funding as possible is directed to front line service delivery – this is a key aspect of the Trust’s funding.
Jessica Taplin, CEO said:
“The British Gas Energy Trust has a long heritage of supporting those who need help with energy and other debt. The impact of the pandemic continues to be felt in households across the UK and the Trust hopes that this additional winter funding of additional services alongside the will help ensure that the important work of advice services reaches those who need it most.”
Download a description of all the projects here.
These organisations become part of our third-sector network of support across the UK, thanks to our sole funder British Gas. British Gas Energy Trust is now supporting 49 charities and not for profits delivering a variety of in-depth money advice programmes and projects within communities. This year they have funded 139 specialist money and energy advisors who provide a network of support for people living in, or at risk of, fuel poverty in England, Scotland and Wales, including rural areas.