Domestic Energy Essentials is an energy advice training session, open to all and lasting 2.5 hours. It is designed to help individuals and organisations who work with low-income households at risk of fuel debt and cold homes.

Attendees will learn to recognise the signs of fuel poverty and to direct people to an appropriate agency for further support to stay warm, healthy and out of debt.

Training is free to third-sector organisations (charities, the voluntary sector and other not-for-profit organisations). Otherwise, the training costs £49.50 per person.

The next session is in-person at our offices in Bristol on Wednesday 12 March (10:00am to 12:30pm), details can be found on our Eventbrite page.

If you prefer learning remotely, we’re running an online session of Domestic Energy Essentials on Wednesday 25 June (10:00am to 12:30pm). Details of this can be found here.

If you can’t make it to either of those, there will be another in-person session on 24 September (more details) and an online session on 3 December (more details).

What the energy advice training will cover:

• How to recognise that someone is in fuel poverty.
• Health and social impacts of living in a cold home.
• Advice on using heating and hot water controls.
• Dealing with electricity and gas suppliers.
• Making the home more energy efficient.
• Tackling damp and mould.
• How to give energy efficiency advice to the people you support.
• Accessing further support.

This training will be particularly valuable in view of the ongoing cost of living crisis where many households struggle afford to heat their homes.

And even if your primary reason for supporting vulnerable clients is not about energy advice, there is bound to be something useful for you in this training.

About the Trainer, Nick Trapp

Nick first got involved at CSE as a volunteer Arabic-English interpreter, before joining full time in 2020. He gives advice on heating, energy saving behaviour, damp and mould, financial support and low-carbon home improvements, and takes on advocacy work for vulnerable clients faced with unmanageable bills or poor treatment from their energy supplier. He recently trained the Matthew Tree Project to give advice on energy, and briefed NHS employees on how to recognise the signs of fuel poverty in patients’ homes. Nick is a clear and concise communicator with an understanding of the dynamics of encouraging behaviour change in individuals.

For more information about the training, contact Lorna Wilcox (lorna.wilcox@cse.org.uk).