Green Isle of Wight is a Community Interest Company (CIC) located in the Isle of Wight with the mission to make a positive impact where it matters the most. The aim of their project is to make the homes on the island warmer, cheaper to heat, and to reduce their carbon footprint. They support everybody on the island with a focus on helping those who may be digitally excluded. They support many different groups across the island including veterans’ groups, church groups, people using the warm spaces network and organisations supporting vulnerable families. Their support is delivered through energy advice talks and home visits, where they also provide home energy efficiency assessments.  

SGN Safe and Warm Communities funding has enabled Green Isle of Wight to… 

• Support over 240 homes from December 2024 to May 2025 with personalised energy advice.  

• Raise awareness of carbon monoxide safety. 

• Educate the island on energy efficiency and help with energy bills. 

• Support over 130 people to sign up for the Priority Services Register (PSR).  

• Provide homes with home energy efficiency assessments.  

We met Tony at one of the Warm Spaces on the Island. After speaking to him we were concerned about his home heating so we arranged a home visit. When we arrived it was obvious that Tony primarily lives in one room heated by a very old solid fuel range cooker. We were able to give Tony advice on the carbon monoxide risk and will be providing him with a carbon monoxide detector. We have also been able to provide Tony with a heated throw that he can use to help keep warm.

Lisa Beaney, managing director

We spoke with Green Isle of Wight to find out more about how the SGN Safe & Warm funding supported their work.

How has the funding impacted your organisation?  

The SGN Safe and Warm Communities funding has enabled us to get out into the community, visit all sorts of different outreach venues and provide home visits. We have been able to provide high quality service to people that really need it. CSE’s support has been really helpful: the networking events are brilliant because we can hear how other organisations are working and can discuss the issues that we face. Being able to ask for support directly, especially regarding materials and ideas for new sessions we can run has been invaluable.  

How do you deliver support to community members? 

We support the community by attending already established groups to give energy advice talks and by offering support and home visits to give tailored advice in the homes of people who need further support. We also run a monthly slot on the local radio station to talk about energy saving tips.  

We talk to most people about the Priority Services Register and sign them up because most people just don’t realise it exists and is there to help them. We also raise awareness of the dangers of carbon monoxide. People just aren’t aware and can get confused between carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, and gas in general. We do this by giving out carbon monoxide leaflets with everything we do. We use the Fairer Warmth app to help us with our advice delivery, and we have added a whole carbon monoxide section in there so that everybody that comes to us for advice also gets carbon monoxide advice.  

What advice would you give to other organisations thinking of delivering energy advice in their communities? 

Go out and work with as many community groups as possible: if a lot of people are going to an existing group, there’s usually a reason! People may not come forward to get advice on energy or carbon monoxide but if you go along to a group they go to regularly, then that’s a far easier method to engage more people. By meeting face-to-face you’ll be able to reach out to more people as lots of people don’t want to spend the time on the phone.