Energy Projects Plus is delighted to continue our close, long-term partnership with Wirral Council, through the delivery of the Wirral Fuel Poverty Advice Service. This contract runs from October 2025 to October 2028, and is delivered by Energy Projects Plus for Wirral Council’s Public Health team.
Beginning with the Wirral Free Insulation Programme in 2009, which insulated over 18,000 homes, we’ve used the “Warmer Wirral” branding for our activities that help Wirral residents to avoid/escape fuel poverty, and make their homes more energy efficient, leading to warmer homes that are cheaper to run. This service can be vital to ensure residents with chronic health conditions made worse by cold aren’t living in homes that are worsening their health.
What are we delivering?
We provide free, energy efficiency advice and support through these primary channels:
| Telephone | Residents can call our Save Energy Advice Line free on 0800 043 0151, or by email at advice@epplus.org, or by completing a self-referral form available on our contact us page. Our team of friendly, qualified Energy Advisors will happily answer any questions about household energy efficiency. |
| In-home | Households on a low income, or living within an area of deprivation, or with any kind of vulnerability to living in cold conditions, might benefit from follow-on advice and support within their homes. |
| Outreach | We’re routinely out and about, engaging with residents in their local community settings. We’re happy to set up a pop-up energy advice drop-in stall in most well-utilised public venues. We’re particularly keen to deliver these sessions within areas of deprivation, or within health centres. You can invite us to attend your event, or deliver a talk to your community group, by emailing events@epplus.org |
Progress Against Targets
| No. | Description | Target/Plan | Year to date performance |
| 1 | Proportion of supported households with residents belonging to at least one of the identified vulnerability categories | 45% | 56.80% |
| 2 | Proportion of supported households from 20% most deprived areas of Wirral | 40% | 50.30% |
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Case Study: Supporting a Vulnerable Household with Heating Difficulties
A home visit was carried out with the client and his elderly mother at the house they have lived in for many years. The client has significant ongoing health issues, primarily related to a serious back injury, which impacts his mobility and day-to-day wellbeing. He also supports his 95-year-old mother, making it especially important that their home remains warm and comfortable.
During the visit, the client shared concerns about ongoing problems with their central heating system. The situation had been causing considerable stress, particularly due to the impact on his mother’s comfort and health.
Background
- The boiler was installed in 2017.
- In 2023, the system received a full service and system flush through a local council scheme.
- Despite several engineers attending recently, the household continued to experience issues:
- One radiator was not heating up.
- The system pressure was fluctuating significantly.
- Due to these problems, the client had become reluctant to use the heating system.
The client had also experienced disruption to his benefits, however the client successfully appealed the decision following an assessment in October 2025 and is currently waiting for this support to be reinstated.
Support and Referrals
To help improve the situation and ensure the household could maintain a safe and warm home, the following referrals were made:
- Referral to LEAP for easy energy-saving measures.
- Referral to British Gas Weather Readiness for a boiler and heating system service.
Outcome
British Gas Weather Readiness attended the property shortly after the referral and the client reported being extremely pleased with the visit and the support provided.
Work completed included:
- A full boiler service.
- Cleaning fluid run through the heating system.
- All radiators checked and system assessed.
- Installation of a remote-control Hive heating system, allowing the client to control heating from upstairs more easily.
The central heating system is now working properly and the client reported feeling greatly relieved, as this had been a major source of worry. Most importantly, his 95-year-old mother is now warm and comfortable, whereas previously she had been feeling cold and shivery, which was extremely worrying and detrimental to her health.
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Work with us
If you represent an organisation who engages with potentially vulnerable residents, we’d be delighted to offer you the following ways to take advantage of our advice and support for the benefit of your clients/members/tenants/visitors/etc:
- Our free, secure, online referral portal is available here: www.epplus.org.uk/referrals. If your organisation isn’t on the drop-down list, you can simply choose “other” for now, so there’s no delay. But you can also drop us a line to info@epplus.org to let us know a bit about who you are, and what work you’re undertaking that you’d like us to support. We can then also get you listed on that drop-down list of referral partners.
- We would love to take the opportunity to deliver a briefing session for you and your team, to explain more about who we are, what we do, and why we do it. Our briefing sessions provide some advice you can pass along yourselves, as well as an overview of our referral process, so you can send referrals to us where residents will require that extra level of assistance.
- We can provide you with a supply of A5 flyers, as well as A4 or A3 posters, for you to display and provide to residents. Simply drop us a line at info@epplus.org and let us know how many of each size you need.
