Merton Council has backed Fuel Poverty Awareness Day by offering advice to vulnerable residents on how to keep warm for less by carrying out free home visits.

Fuel Poverty Awareness Day is a national campaign to highlight the problem of fuel poverty, which currently sees over four million households unable to afford the energy they need to stay warm and healthy in their homes. Low income households living in energy inefficient homes that are difficult and expensive to heat are particularly affected by this problem.

Giles Read of not-for-profit Fuel Poverty prevention organisation Thinking Works, said: “Living in a cold damp home can lead to extremely poor health, especially in those who are vulnerable such as older people, young children, and those with long term sickness and disabilities. In Merton alone, one in ten households are believed to be in fuel poverty.”

Merton has successfully bid for funding from the Mayor of London’s office to establish a new scheme offering free home visits and small measures to low income households to help people stay warm for less. The scheme will be run in partnership with Kingston, Sutton Richmond and Wandsworth and launched later this year.

Cabinet Member for Street Cleanliness and Parking Councillor Ross Garrod, who leads the borough’s efforts to maximise renewable and low carbon energy said: “Fuel poverty is a problem in parts of our borough and we hope the funding secured for free home visits will help support and advise those households. We are committed to working with partners such as Thinking Works to ensure we are providing an efficient business-like service to all of our residents.”

Anyone interested in finding out more about the support on offer in the borough should call our partners Thinking Works on 0800 118 2327 / 07928 394 482 or email: enquiries@thinkingworks.co.uk

Notes:

Latest government statistics indicate that there are over 4 million UK households in fuel poverty. Fuel poverty is caused by a combination of low incomes, high energy prices and poor quality energy-inefficient housing: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/fuel-poverty-statistics

Fuel poverty statistics are available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/fuel-poverty-statistics

Fuel Poverty Awareness Day is coordinated by NEA and supported by many organisations across the UK. For more information visit: http://www.nea.org.uk/campaigns-policy/fuel-poverty-awareness-day/