Eaga launches £1 million hardship fund in time for winter chill
As experts predict a winter chill, leading residential energy efficiency provider Eaga has today announced it has set up a £1million hardship fund as part of its commitment to eradicating fuel poverty in England.
Eaga has delivered energy efficiency measures to over 5 million UK homes, lifting several million vulnerable people out of fuel poverty. Eaga improves insulation in over 500 homes a day and fits or repairs a central heating system every minute of every working day.
The Met Office has predicted that temperatures will drop in February and March which could spell misery for the millions of people who live in fuel poverty and could be struggling to afford to heat their home.
It is estimated that over 2 million people in this country live in fuel poverty and are spending at least 10% of their household income on trying to keep warm.
Warm Front, a Government-funded scheme managed by Eaga, has more than £300 million available each year to help lift vulnerable people out of fuel poverty by making their homes more energy efficient.
Households on qualifying benefits can receive grants up to £2,700 for measures such as loft and cavity wall insulation, draught proofing and energy efficient central heating.
For a small number of customers the maximum grant will not cover all their needs and an additional payment may be required. Eaga has launched a £1 million hardship fund to help meet these costs and provide a much needed service to the small number of vulnerable customers who would benefit from additional help.
Adrian Hull, Eaga Director of Warm Front Operations, said: “Warm Front’s priority is to help as many vulnerable people as possible, which is why the Government has set a grant limit to make sure we can spread the benefits as widely as possible.”
“In around nine times out of 10 Warm Front is completely free. Naturally we would love to make this 10 times out of 10. Our new hardship fund will go some way to achieving this and delivering a sustainable solution for lifting people out of fuel poverty.”
“I am pleased to say that we have already been able to approve some of these funds for use to cover excess payments for current Warm Front clients,” he added.
Warm Front assistance is available to help low-income households, in particular older people, families with children under 16, expectant mothers, disabled people and people suffering from a long term illness.
To qualify, householders should be in receipt of a disability or income related benefit and live in their own home or rent it from a private landlord.
Eaga continue to work with the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) to find a more permanent solution to the issue of additional payments.
For more information on how to apply for a Warm Front Grant visit www.eaga.co.uk or call the helpline free on 0800 316 6007. Lines are open Monday-Friday 9am-6pm and Saturday 9am-5pm
Ends
Notes to Editors:
- Eaga is the UK’s largest residential energy efficiency provider. The company is a leader in the provision of innovative and sustainable services, products and solutions that address the environmental, social and energy efficiency objectives of Government and the private sector both nationally and internationally.
- Eaga was established in Newcastle in 1990 to lead government funded efforts to improve the living conditions of vulnerable people living in cold, damp and energy inefficient homes across England. Since its inception, Eaga has made a positive difference to over 5 million disadvantaged households across the UK, by installing energy efficiency measures and central heating.
- Eaga holds the contract to deliver the £1.5 billion Warm Front programme in England, the cornerstone of government's target to eliminate fuel poverty by installing energy efficiency measures in vulnerable homes by 2010. Eaga also works with devolved nation governments to deliver similar schemes across the UK.
- As a co-owned business, Eaga is one of only a handful of UK organisations where every employee with over a year’s service is entitled to a share in the success of the business. Eaga’s commitment to co-ownership is an integral part of the values that define the ethos of the business and what it means to be an Eaga employee.
- Since 2000, Eaga has invested over £3 million in the independent Eaga Partnership Charitable Trust which funds research into solutions to fuel poverty.
Media Contact
Rik Kendall, Eaga Media Relations Manager
0191 245 8342 or 0776 5302 701
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