The Hope Trust provides in depth tailored debt and budgeting support including managing home energy bills, as well as running life skills courses with their partner organisation Christians Against Poverty (CAP).  They are based in Oxford and are affiliated with St Ebbe’s church. They support people from all walks of life, primarily focusing on people with low incomes. Through their debt centre, they help people implement debt advice and personalised energy advice. Additionally, through their life skills courses, they help members to put budgets together, share energy saving tips and help sign members up for the Priority Services Register (PSR). 

SGN Safe and Warm Communities funding has enabled The Hope Trust to… 

• Support over 35 households this year with debt and personalised energy advice. 

• Launch their life skills course which helps people to develop skills like reading energy meters and budgeting their income. 

• Support 26 clients sign up to the Priority Services Register.  

• Help raise awareness of carbon monoxide (CO) safety. 

I felt welcomed on my first meeting with the debt coach. She was kind and offered to make me some tea. I immediately felt at ease talking to her and discussing financial details. I felt confident that I was in good hands from the beginning of our talk to be honest. 

The coach was compassionate, understanding, and never once made me feel judged. She took the time to listen to my situation, explain my options clearly, and work with me to create a realistic plan to regain control of my finances. The practical advice and emotional support gave me a sense of hope. 

The Hope Trust community member

A gentleman that we support’s home energy spending was quite high so we gave him one of the thermometer cards that showed his home was way warmer than it needed to be. We explained to him how much he would be able to save if he kept his home just a few degrees less warm while still safely warm. This was quite inspiring for him and gave him a sense of hope. He came along to one of the life skills courses and now comes regularly to our community cafe.

Kirsten Beavan, The Hope Trust Oxford 

We spoke with the Hope Trust to find out more about how the SGN Safe & Warm funding supported their work.

How has the funding impacted your organisation?  

The funding has enabled us to run our life skills courses and has been really valuable, especially with the training that comes alongside it. We have really benefited from CSE’s  support in a number of ways – the regular training sessions have been excellent, and have helped us expand on our existing service, to bring a bigger focus on fuel poverty and energy efficiency measures, which can go a long way in helping clients live within their sometimes very limited budgets. 

How do you deliver support to community members? 

Support is delivered through the community cafe and our life skills group, an 8-to-10-week training and coaching course. It covers budgeting advice and the pressure we face to spend, but also a module on home energy. We discuss staying on top of energy bills and cooking on a budget, including how much energy different cooking appliances use. One-to-one coaching is also available for more tailored advice. Since being on a low income and in debt can be quite isolating, people who join our life skills group benefit from being part of a community.  

Carbon monoxide safety features in one of the modules in our life skills course and we also offer regular training on this through our community cafe. Additionally, when meeting debt clients in their homes, we are able to see and advise on any kind of carbon monoxide risks that they may have.  

We also support clients sign up for the Priority Services Register. So many of our clients just didn’t know about it and are grateful to find out it exists, it’s easy to sign up to, and energy companies care about helping them. 

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

I would say go for it, if you can access training and support that is really valuable. I have felt really supported by CSE from the regular training. Monthly reporting for the funder is also a good opportunity to look back and think about what we did, what we achieved and what the challenges were. It’s actually really encouraging because sometimes it can feel like progress is slow but being able to see the tangible difference each month is impactful.