Please click here for language/accessibility options

Findings from the British Gas Energy Trust sixth roundtable event

THE BRITISH GAS ENERGY TRUST 20TH ANNIVERSARY ROUNDTABLE PROGRAMME

Date: 3 October 2024

Location: Chapter Arts Centre, Cardiff

Objective: To ensure British Gas Energy Trust (the Trust) is supporting its local partner organisations as effectively as possible, with a particular focus on vulnerable and older people across the UK.

Introducing the event, Jessica Taplin, Chief Executive of the Trust, said: “Our 20th anniversary is a moment to look forward, not back. This is the sixth in a series of round tables and we have had some brilliant discussions which have helped establish the key themes that will help drive our future direction. It has been fantastic to see our partners engaging with this process so enthusiastically.”

Key themes: Speakers from a diverse range of community groups and support organisations gathered to discuss their front-line work to address fuel poverty, with a particular focus on vulnerable and older people. They highlighted a range of challenges that are experienced by older people in Wales and across the UK, which can include low incomes, poor housing, digital exclusion and communication barriers.

Observations included:

It takes time and patience to build trust with older people to open up about their energy poverty challenges, which means some offerings of support provision, including phone and digital, can be less effective.

Outreach work in the communities where older people live can pay dividends in terms of reaching people who might need help but don’t ask for it or know what’s available to them.

Older people are rationing energy use and even self-disconnecting rather than asking for help, creating a hidden problem of fuel poverty among the elderly.

Next steps: The panellists were asked to share strategies and solutions which they believe would prove effective in tackling fuel poverty in disadvantaged communities.

There is an opportunity for more communication and collaboration between energy providers, the state and the third sector to help identify and support people who are already in fuel poverty, or who are in danger of falling into fuel poverty.

Renewables must be part of the long-term solution to energy poverty, but we must have a just transition that means all communities, including older people, enjoy all the benefits.

Too many older people live in poor quality housing that exacerbate fuel poverty. Targeted home improvements, including insulation, must be part of the solution.

Common themes

This was the sixth in a series of seven roundtables discussions being held around the country, which have so far focused on physical and mental health, young people, rural communities and carers, and several common themes are now emerging:

Read more about the Trust’s roundtables here.