Middlesbrough Public Health has provided funding to Middlesbrough Environment City which will be awarded via a grant giving process to organisations delivering affordable warmth projects during winter 2018 – 2019.
Middlesbrough Affordable Warmth Partnership provides a person centred approach to fuel poverty whereby the householder is able to access a tailored packaged of support to ensure they are more able to improve their resilience to fuel poverty. Through the partnership residents can access a variety of support including:
- Temporary heating, blankets, torches, wind up lanterns etc
- Emergency fuel vouchers
- heating repairs where appropriate
- Help with increasing household income through benefit uptake, becoming more energy efficient, reducing fuel bills and managing fuel debt
- There is also a range of support to help with staying safe in the home e.g. via carbon monoxide monitors, cold alarms and dusk till dawn lights
To help us improve the range of support on offer, proposals are invited for funding of between £2,000.00 and £10,000.00 to support projects which will address reducing fuel poverty and excess winter deaths in Middlesbrough and meet at least one of the key aims of the Middlesbrough Affordable Warmth Action Plan as follows:
- Improving the energy efficiency of households in Middlesbrough
- Reducing fuel poverty through income maximisation, improving access to budgeting advice and fuel and wider debt advice
- Ensuring provision of emergency support
- Access to emergency heating
- Access to warm clothing, bedding, etc
- Access to carpeting, curtains etc
- Improving health and well-being through affordable warmth
- Reduction of hospital admission due to cold related illness including, flu, pneumonia, asthma, cardio vascular disease, COPD
- Advice and support for people being discharged from hospital etc
- Support for people living at home with long term health conditions e.g. cancer, strokes, dementia
Proposals should target people who are in, or at risk of fuel poverty, across at least two of the following areas:
- People who have existing, long term health conditions, including long term mental health diagnosis, which make them vulnerable to the cold, including: cardio-vascular disease, lung disease (including COPD), arthritis and problems with mobility issues, Alzheimer’s and Dementia related diseases, and cancer.
- People over 65
- Families with children under 5
- People from ethnic minorities, asylum seekers and refugees
- Private Renting Tenants
- Young people aged 16-24 living in their own property
Proposals must clearly indicate how they will ensure the activities will be targeted to those areas identified.
Proposals should demonstrate how they will work alongside current services and delivery organisations to minimise duplication of delivery.
Key areas of support which are currently missing or limited within the current Affordable Warmth Partnership are:-
- Fuel debt and wider debt advice services
- Benefits checks at home for vulnerable people who struggle to get out
- Budgeting advice
- Provision and installation of small energy efficiency measures eg draught proofing
All activity must take place in Middlesbrough and projects must be delivered between 1st October 2018 and 31st March 2019.
Successful applications will receive the grant in three instalments. The first payment will be made by the end of September 2018. A second instalment will be paid in January 2019 pending receipt of an interim monitoring report. A final payment of 10% of the total of the grant will be paid at the end of the project pending receipt of a final report and evaluation.
The deadline for applications is noon 12th September 2018 – Application form
The decisions about how the funding will be awarded made by a panel of people including Public Health representatives, Executive Members and the Director of Middlesbrough Environment City.