Flexibility key for South Yorkshire charity

A South Yorkshire charity has said the flexibility shown by British Gas Energy Trust has enabled them to increase the impact of their energy project in their community.

Citizens Advice Sheffield has recently joined the roster of dozens of organisations receiving funds from British Gas Energy Trust to help them support people struggling to pay their energy bills.

But after just a couple of months of delivery, the team knew they could be delivering better outcomes by reshaping their offer so approached the funder to scope out whether changes could be made.

With the backing of British Gas Energy Trust (BGET), the charity reassembled the project team that now includes a specialist debt advisor who is a Member of the Institute of Money Advisers, holds a certificate in Money Advice Practice and is a Debt Relief Order Approved Intermediary, supporting clients to write off their debts, including energy bills, if necessary.

If a client is eligible, a Debt Relief Order (DRO) can be applied for. Clients must have debts less than £30,000, be on a low income and not own a home or have assets of over £2,000. If approved, the person doesn’t have to make payments towards most types of debts and after 12 months, the debts are written off, allowing people a fresh start.

Most debts can be included such as credit cards, overdrafts, loans, council tax, rent arrears and utility bills – but other debts such as court fines and child support fees are not included.

Find out more about whether you could be eligible for a DRO on the Citizens Advice website.

Joanne Abdulla, Head of Advice at Citizens Advice Sheffield, said:

“The original bid looks nothing like how the project is run now. It’s our first year with BGET funding, so we were worried about not hitting the targets we had initially put in our bid.

We had intended to just offer a simple energy advice service to people, but with people presenting with multiple and complex issues it was just impossible to do. The flexibility shown by BGET has allowed us to prioritise our most vulnerable clients.

For example, last year, through all of our projects, we supported 21,000 people – and our stats show that people generally present with three different issues. A debt issue is usually linked to a housing issue, which is then usually linked to a benefits issue. And if people are struggling to pay their energy bills they often have other debts too. So, we need the flexibility that British Gas Energy Trust has shown so we can deliver for these people.”

Since the start of the 2023/24 financial year, the charity has been able to write off almost £60,000 of client debts thanks to their British Gas Energy Trust project.

In the previous financial year, Citizens Advice Sheffield helped maximise people’s income by almost £12m and helped to write off more than £700,000 in debt, preventing more than 200 evictions in the process. Looking deeper at the makeup of the people they helped, 51% had a disability and/or long-term health condition, with a third of those presenting with multiple impairments.

Joanne says the reshaped energy team is already making a difference. She added:

“Helping people to resolve their debts is complex and there are pros and cons to all the available options. But debt has a huge impact on mental health so removing that burden allows people to think differently, and we’ve been able to then support people towards things like employment which helps people get out of the negative cycle they’ve previously been in.”

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