CSE is working with SGN to help create a network of community organisations that can provide much-needed support for people struggling with the current cost-of-living crisis. The scheme is called Safe and Warm and has been running since December 2022.

The aim of the scheme is to Safe and Warm provides funding and support for local initiatives helping customers with carbon monoxide safety and alleviating fuel poverty.

It gives grants of £30,000 to £40,000 to small organisations who support people in high-vulnerability locations who are in need of help to stay safe and warm over the colder winter period.

The scheme is open again for projects to start in December 2024.

Organisations whose applications are successful will be able to access a resources pack (aimed at supporting project staff and volunteers in their work with vulnerable customers), free training on carbon monoxide safety awareness advice, help with getting customers onto the priority services register, and the opportunity to join network meetings, collaborate with other organisations, and provide SGN with local insights to help shape future schemes.

How to apply

Please read our information for applicants before submitting an application to Safe and Warm. This tells you more about the aim of the scheme and provides guidance on completing an application form.

Complete an application form for the SGN Safe and Warm scheme here (page on jotform.com will open in a new tab).

To help you with your application, we’ve made a version of the online form available as a downloadable file, here. This is so you can gather the information you need to complete your application more easily before applying. However please use the online form to submit your application, not the PDF.

The deadline for applications is 17:00 on Sunday 8 December.

Please note that awards will be made to successful applicants on a rolling basis until we allocate all our funding. We intend to make all awards by the end of November 2024 for projects to start in December 2024. However we are keen to bring on new partners in 2025, so if you apply and are successful, but we cannot make any further awards, we will add you to a waiting list and be in touch when we can onboard you to the scheme.

If you have any questions about the scheme or application process, or need a printed copy of the application form, please email sgncommunity@cse.org.uk or call 0117 934 1400.

Applicants’ webinar

We will also be hosting two interactive Information for Applicants webinars. At these webinars – which will be hosted by Zoom – you can find out more about the scheme, what we’re looking for in the application form and have the opportunity to ask questions. It will be a friendly and welcoming session hosted by the team at the Centre for Sustainable Energy.

The webinars will be on:

Wednesday 23 October, 14:30 to 15:30. You can register to attend this here.
Thursday 7 November 10:00 to 11:00. You can register to attend this here.

Eligibility

Eligible areas

We’re looking for applications from areas where SGN operate the gas network. This includes all of Scotland, and all of the counties of Dorset, Hampshire & Isle of Wight, West Sussex, East Sussex and Kent. It also includes parts of Oxfordshire, Berkshire, Surrey and South London. To find out if you’re in the right part, use SGN’s postcode checker or look at the maps in the Information for Applicants document.

Types of organisation we fund

We’re looking for small grassroots organisations who:

• Have experience in working with hard-to-reach and seldom heard groups.
• Are embedded in their local area and able to connect with individuals who may not otherwise access support.
• Are keen to join a network of similar organisations to share learning and best practice.
• Are legally incorporated or are being supported by a legally incorporated partner organisation.
• Have robust administrative and management systems, including being able to record customer interactions, provide summary data for reporting, and be in a position to share detailed records for audit at the end of the funding period.

Organisations who are successful in their applications will be able to demonstrate that they are able to provide help directly on, or make supported referrals for, all of the following:

• Personalised energy advice (e.g. energy efficiency behaviour change), energy efficiency measures and energy schemes (e.g. Warm Home Discount).
• Priority Services Register sign-ups.
• Benefits eligibility checks and debt advice.
• Energy crisis support (fuel voucher or emergency funding) and other crisis support (e.g. food, clothing or housing).
• Carbon monoxide safety awareness advice.
• Other areas of support for vulnerable customers.

Previous funding rounds supported 34 organisations, and you can see a list of them here. Liz Crew is director of one of these, TechResort, and told us “Most of our clients are on low incomes and feeling the cost-of-living rises very acutely. Digital poverty underpins their challenges in finding out accurate energy information and maximising their income to help offset the price rises. You are enabling us to reach people who often don’t present at traditional support sites – such as foodbanks – because of the associated shame linked to poverty.”

Organisations who have been supported by Safe and Warm in the past

London and Surrey:
African Refugee Women Nzoto Ya Nkolo (Croydon)
CDARS (Merton, Wandsworth, Richmond, Kingston and Sutton)
Newham-Refugee-Consortium-BOBOTO (Croydon)
CREW Energy (Merton)
Hackney Association Youth Club
Afghanistan and Central Asian Association (Lewisham)
Community Links Bromley (Bromley)
The Upper Norwood Library Trust (Lambeth and Croydon)
The Sapphire Community Housing (Lambeth, Lewisham)
Flashy Wings Ministry (Southwark)

West and East Sussex:
TechResort (Polegate and Eastbourne)
The Network of International Women for Brighton and Hove
Worthing Mencap Society
Home-Start Arun, Worthing & Adur
Status Education (Godalming)
Sussex Association for Spina Bifida and Hydrocephalus (SASBAH)
Horsham Matters

Kent:
Children and Families
Swale Community and Voluntary Services
Folkestone Nepalese Community (Kent)
Canterbury District Volunteer Centre
Friendly Faces of Kent

Oxford:
Oxford Churches Debt Centre
Hope Trust Oxford

Dorset:
Somerford Youth and Community Centre (Bournemouth)
Citizens Advice East Dorset and Purbeck
Bournemouth Foodbank

Hampshire:
PEBL – Prospect Estate Big Local
The Vine Centre (Rushmoor and surrounding areas)
Wickham Community Association