This Volunteers’ Week, we’re celebrating all our incredible volunteers and their amazing contributions towards supporting people in fuel poverty.

The Centre for Sustainable Energy (CSE) is lucky enough to have around 25 volunteers who support our work across the organisation. This year, our volunteers attended 48 events, reaching over 400 clients and engaging in a range of in-depth conversations.

Our volunteers undertake a variety of important tasks, including assisting with home visits and energy advice, attending events to promote our services, and providing administrative support. In the last year alone, we have delivered six training sessions for our volunteers to make sure they have the confidence and knowledge to support us in these tasks. As a result of this, over the past 12 months our volunteers have supported our advisors on 100 home visits, providing crucial assistance to those who need it.

We offer roles to our volunteer based on their experience and interests, and the amount of time they can commit. If you are interested in volunteering with us, get in touch here.

Jake has been with us for almost five years. Here, he shares his experience on what volunteering with CSE has been like for him

Why did you become a volunteer for CSE?

Before working with CSE, I took early retirement from a role in local government which involved mitigating fuel poverty and improving housing standards. I viewed this volunteering role as an opportunity to fulfil this professional interest whilst helping people.

What has been fun to work on?

I have particularly enjoyed being involved in giving one-to-one advice to people in their own homes. This lets us to get into the details of people’s energy costs and debts and provide direct support. It also means that we can survey the home and advise on getting funding for major works and install small measures such as draught proofing.

What’s the most interesting thing you’ve helped with?

I’ve really enjoyed giving advice to the owners of historic buildings. I live in a World Heritage City in a Grade II listed flat, so the restrictions around retrofitting these kinds of properties are personally interesting to me and also quite frustrating.

What would you say to someone who is thinking about volunteering?

My advice to someone thinking of volunteering is to perhaps think about what aspects of your present or past work you enjoyed the most. Think about how much time you can devote to any one organisation; the timing of your availability and if the work is not regularly scheduled how much notice you require. Then go and find a match.