deafPLUS
Supporting the Deaf community to stay safe and warm at home
Our project at a glance
- Priority vulnerability group: Disabled people
- Strategic priority area: Supporting priority customer groups to access tailored support services
- Support target: 20,000 households over 10 months
- Duration: June 2025 to March 2026
- Investment: £115,485 over 10 months
- Forecast SROI: £2.86
I’ve been attending deafPLUS since 2019, and they have helped me more times than I can count with grants, applying for benefits, and with challenging my eviction. I don’t know how many times I must have said it over the years, but I would be lost without deafPLUS’s support.
deafPLUS beneficiary
Why we’re working together
Around 12 million people in the UK are deaf or have hearing loss, with the British Deaf Association suggesting 87,000 people may use British Sign Language (BSL) as their first or preferred language.
Living with hearing loss brings a unique set of challenges, many of which have been intensified by the cost-of-living crisis. Fewer working age adults with hearing loss are in employment compared to the general population, putting extra pressure on household incomes. A lack of access to BSL interpreters when engaging with healthcare or council services means Deaf people experience barriers in accessing essential support services.
deafPLUS is one of the few organisations in England offering financial capability and energy advice in BSL. Together, we aim to tackle fuel poverty in the Deaf community by providing inclusive access to energy support services for households in Scotland and the south of England.
Project objectives
- Upskilling the deafPLUS team with skills to identify households in fuel poverty and provide onward support
- Providing personalised energy safeguarding advice for Deaf households in BSL
- Raising awareness of carbon monoxide safety and providing accessible CO alarms to those most at risk of CO harm
- Supporting households to join the Priority Services Register
How we’re working together
One-to-one energy safeguarding advice
We’re providing Deaf households with personalised energy safeguarding advice in British Sign Language through video calls with the charity’s AdviceLine. We’re also offering in-person sessions at seven locations across the south of England.
For more complex cases, deafPLUS advisors refer households to our Safe & Warm partnership network for help with debt advice and home energy assessments.
Awareness raising campaigns
We’re developing a multi-channel awareness campaign to promote the Priority Services Register and energy safeguarding services, which will reach deafPLUS service users, colleagues and volunteers.
This includes distributing Energy Access Toolkits at community hubs and events to reach households with practical information on how to mitigate fuel poverty for Deaf households who haven’t engaged directly with the EnergyPLUS service.
Frontline worker training
Our Safe & Warm community partner National Energy Action will provide deafPLUS employees with Fuel Debt Advice in the Community (City and Guilds Level 2 Award) training. Following this training, the team will upskill additional deafPLUS colleagues to help them identify households in energy crisis, the symptoms of fuel poverty and where to signpost households for onward support.
How to get involved
Accessing support from the EnergyPLUS service
As one of our VCMA network partners, you can refer Deaf households who are struggling to maintain a safe and warm home to deafPLUS through the charity's website.
If you’re Deaf and need help to stay safe and warm at home, you can get help in BSL from the deafPLUS Adviceline.
Becoming a deafPLUS partner
You can find out more about partnering with deafPLUS on the organisation's website.
At deafPLUS, we believe in supporting not only Deaf people but wider society to close the gap in access and equity. Through energyPLUS, we’re working to ensure fair access for all, with practical, life-saving support like carbon monoxide alarms and trusted energy advice in British Sign Language. There is still far too little awareness about these risks in the Deaf community, and this partnership reflects our deep commitment to Deaf people’s safety, well-being, and inclusion in the national conversation on energy use.