Funded nationally by government, and managed locally by the Northwest Net Zero Hub, our “Retrofit Buddies” project is designed to provide extra support to residents who are interested in making their homes warmer and more energy efficient, but who need support along the way.

Our Buddies will be available by phone, and to deliver home visits, at any point a hurdle is encountered. They will use their expertise to help the resident overcome these hurdles. The ultimate aim is to maximise the impact of funding streams available to our clients, but we’re also more than happy to offer support to clients who are self-funding their home improvement works.

Our project covers all of Cheshire and Merseyside, and runs to the end of March 2025.

Some of the practical barriers to improvement works that our Buddies might encounter will be situations such as:

• Clients with restricted mobility seeking support in physically gathering paperwork together
• Clients anxious of letting contractors into their home might be glad of a friendly face to sit with them during survey/installation
• Clients lacking confidence completing paperwork can ask for a Buddy to assist in filling forms

Typically, our Buddies will be introduced to clients who are being supported by other projects. But if you are working with a resident who you feel will require the assistance of a Buddy, you can enter a note to this effect when referring them to us.

To enquire about support for yourself or another person, or to find out more about this project, call our Save Energy Advice Line free on 0800 043 0151, or email advice@epplus.org.