Energy Projects Plus has always delivered briefing sessions and training courses to frontline workers (staff and/or volunteers) who themselves engage with potentially vulnerable residents. 

We want to impart lots of our advice, which can then be shared with people who are able to help themselves once they hear some ideas to get them started on their journey to cut out energy waste, lower their energy bills, and reduce their carbon footprint. We also want to explain how to use our online referral forms to access our advice and support services, for those vulnerable residents who might not be able to help themselves without our direct support.

While we could easily talk all day about what we do & why we do it (e.g. through our Carbon Literacy training course), we’re well aware how invaluable time is for our partner organisations. Which is why we are always happy to offer bitesize (usually 1hr) sessions that tend to either provide a brief introduction across all energy/fuel poverty/net zero related topics, or we deliver a more in-depth assessment of one particular aspect.

One such aspect that’s really worth shouting about of late is the vast array of grants & schemes that exist, helping residents to make their homes warmer, forever.

Going beyond “sticking plaster” quick-fixes such as the provision of fuel vouchers, many more residents than ever before are eligible for fully-funded energy efficient home improvements, such as increased insulation and improved heating systems. The insulation is no longer just for the “low-hanging fruit” of loft and cavity walls, but we can now help people insulated under their floorboards, or rooms in their roof space, or solid brick walls. And heating no longer just means replacing a gas boiler on a like-for-like basis, but we might be able to support residents to receive “smart” heating controls that can dramatically reduce heating costs, and also we can help people scrap gas entirely, and shift to a super efficient heat pump, while also cutting costs. Some residents can even receive free solar panels, to help towards the ongoing running costs.

By supporting our clients to understand the opportunities to improve their homes, and helping them to access grants, we can improve the energy efficiency of the property they’re living in, leading to increased heat retention, reduced bills, lower carbon emissions, and greater comfort. For some families this could solve the damp & mould issues that have been far more prevalent these past few years as so many more people have been struggling to heat all the nooks and crannies of their homes, leading to problems with condensation. In other words: “Warm Homes, Healthy People, Cool Planet.“

While it’s fantastic that these opportunities exist, most people do not know they exist, and do not even know when they qualify for support (e.g. in a recent survey of landlords conducted by Citizens Advice, 93% of landlords were unaware of grants that could improve the homes of their tenants). One client we’re currently supporting to insulate their solid walls for free, asked us “why isn’t everybody doing this?” and the simple answer is that very few people are aware of it, and even fewer are aware of who is eligible.

• Would it surprise you to hear that somebody with a household income over £31,000, and not in receipt of any means-tested benefits, was able to get their boiler replaced, and their loft insulation topped-up for free? This is a reality for one of our clients, who was eligible because of a chronic health condition.
• How about a working couple with no vulnerabilities, having solid wall insulation installed for free? This is increasingly possible for households with an Energy Performance Certificate rating of D-G, and who live in a Council Tax band of A-D.

To help close this knowledge gap among our partners across Cheshire & Merseyside, we’re delighted to announce we’ve written a new briefing session entitled “Making Homes Warmer, Forever.“

Who is this session for?

• Frontline workers (paid staff and/or volunteers)
• Regardless of whether they’ve received our regular “Introduction to Affordable Warmth” briefing session
• New recruits, or seasoned veterans

What’s included?

• Who is Energy Projects Plus?
• A run-through of the major grants and schemes (whether open or closed currently)
• An overview of our projects that can help residents access these schemes
• Introduction to our online referral forms

Following the session, we’ll send the following to all attendees:

• PDF copy of the slides, for future reference
• Link to our online referral forms
• Link to provide feedback about our briefing session

How to book yourself & your colleagues onto a briefing session, or to request an in-house session:

• Any upcoming ‘open’ sessions available to all will be available through our Eventbrite page
• You can email training@epplus.org to request an in-house session (either online or in-person)