Power Partners: inspirational stories
The Centre for Sustainable Energy communities team supported the Power Partners project on behalf of UK Power Networks.
We administered grants to organisations across the UK Power Networks area to help address fuel poverty, increase energy awareness, and improve energy resilience.
Here are some inspiring stories from the latest round of funding …
Voluntary Norfolk supports volunteers and voluntary organisations to improve the health, wellbeing, connections, skills and employability of thousands of people across Norfolk each year.
Recognising the difficulty many people faced in the 2022/23 winter, Voluntary Norfolk used Power Partner funding to create a variety of hubs in the Norwich area. These provided valuable support to their local communities.
This included the Phoenix Centre that offers a variety of activities across the week. One of these is ‘hot spot’ Monday – a pay-what-you-can hot meal in a safe and warm environment.
As well as creating a welcoming space for people in the community, it puts people in touch with Better Together Norfolk. They help with information about funding or benefits and give energy saving tips to reduce bills. They also help people deal with social isolation.
Other examples of inspiring actions from funded groups include:
Advice4Renters support people living in private rented accommodation in London. As part of their Power Partners-funded project, they were donated a double decker bus by the bus company Metroline. This is is taken on the road and used as a mobile advice centre at events in Hounslow and Brent.
CDARS (Community Drug & Alcohol Recovery Services) supports vulnerable people struggling with mental and physical health as well as substance addition. They used Power Partners funding to train their clinical staff to deliver energy advice to clients.
OVESCO work with communities in East Sussex to help them reduce their energy use and provide opportunities for renewable energy. They used their Power Partners funding to offer free thermal imaging camera surveys to households. These help residents identify areas of heat loss in the home and make improvements such as draughtproofing or insulation.
Through their Power Partners project, SELCE (South East London Community Energy), worked with non-English speakers on low incomes. They partnered with the Latin American Women’s Rights Service and the Indoamerican Refugee and Migrant Organisation to run energy cafes. At these events, they delivered advice and leaflets in Spanish and Portuguese. They also distributed energy saving kits that included draughtproofing materials, LED lightbulbs and reflective radiator panels.