£3m in grants available to tackle fuel poverty and carbon emissions

A TOTAL of £3m in grants is being made available to charities and community groups, to help people suffering from ‘fuel poverty’ – where a disproportionate amount of a person’s income is required to properly heat their homes.

The grants – available in England and Wales, as well as Scotland – are being administered by the Energy Saving Trust on behalf of the energy ‘watchdog’, Ofgem.

The scheme – part of an ongoing programme – is also targeting carbon emissions.

To date, the programme has funded 404 projects across England, Scotland and Wales, to the tune of £56m.

Says the scheme, called EnergyRedress, here, projects supported thus far include:

  • Impartial energy advice services supporting vulnerable people;
  • Digital media to engage (hard-to-reach) audiences with energy issues and the support that is available to them;
  • Research projects aimed at ensuring that that the needs of elderly people and people with disabilities are met by new energy technologies;
  • Boosting the supply chain of retrofit professionals and uptake of whole-house retrofits; and
  • Trialling new business models or interventions to enable households to use more locally generated energy.

The deadline for applications is the 30th of this month.

Picture credit: Place Design Scotland