The Nationwide Foundation Awards £300,000 To Keep Somerset’s Elderly Warm

Over 6,000 older people in rural Somerset to receive help from fuel poverty advice service

The Nationwide Foundation has approved a large grant of £300,000 to help tackle the issues of fuel poverty among older people living in rurally isolated areas of Somerset. The Centre for Sustainable Energy (CSE), which is working in partnership with Mendip Care and Repair and Somerset West Care and Repair, will use the money to set up a fuel poverty advice service across Somerset to identify and support older people in rural areas who live in cold, damp homes or struggle to pay their bills.

Every year, 2,600 older people die from cold-related illnesses in the South West, and in Somerset 33,000 older people living in rural areas suffer from fuel poverty.* Over the next three years the charities will work in partnership to provide, among other things:

6,000 people aged 50 and over with fuel poverty advice and support, with home visits, advice on fuel debt or full benefit checks to 2,000 of these;
250 healthcare professionals will be trained on fuel poverty;
Referrals for homes needing energy efficiency and home improvement measures.

Lisa Parker, chief executive of The Nationwide Foundation, says: “We are delighted to be able to award this grant to the Centre for Sustainable Energy. The project will significantly improve the lives thousands of older people in Somerset, ensuring their homes are warmer, they are healthier and they have more disposable income.”

CSE’s chief executive, Simon Roberts says: “The Nationwide Foundation’s support for this project is a fantastic endorsement for the groundbreaking work to overcome fuel poverty in Somerset undertaken by CSE and our partners over the last three years. Now with the Foundation’s generous support, there will be a county-wide service supporting vulnerable older people in Somerset’s rural areas and an opportunity to spread best practice to all agencies tackling fuel poverty across the UK.”

In addition to the large grants announced today, the Nationwide Foundation’s Small Grants Programme continues to make grants every two months. These grants are available up to £5,000 to registered charities with incomes of under £500,000. Charities wishing to apply for funding from The Nationwide Foundation should email enquiries@nationwidefoundation.org.uk or call 01793 655113.

Notes to editors:
*Figures sourced from SW Public Health Observatory 2008 and CSE’s Fuel Poverty Indicator.

The Nationwide Foundation is a registered charity (no 1065552) and has limited liability being a company limited by guarantee registered in England and Wales (no. 3451979). Registered office address: Nationwide House, Pipers Way, Swindon, SN38 1NW.

The principle benefactor of the Nationwide Foundation is Nationwide Building Society.

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