Repowering London
Supporting fuel poor Lambeth households to stay safe and warm at home
Our project at a glance
- Strategic priority area: Targeting geographic communities most at risk of fuel poverty
- Support target: 3,900 households over two years
- Duration: April 2024 – March 2026
- Investment: £207,888 over two years
- Forecast SROI: £2.08
I'm now more interested in the energy uses at home and able to help my mother and brother understand.
Young person supported by Repowering London
Why we’re working together
Lambeth is a dense inner London borough with 31% of its population living in areas of high deprivation, as reported in 2016 census data. It is also ethnically diverse with 63% of residents describing their ethnicity as other than White British.
Ethnic minority households are more likely to experience fuel poverty, and they are also more likely to be affected by specific energy vulnerability pathways such as less affordable variable tariffs.
With trust such a critical factor in delivering effective support and building capacity among households facing intersectional exclusions, we’ve joined together with Repowering London to deliver much-needed energy advice and safeguarding services to fuel poor households in Lambeth.
Repowering London has been embedded in Lambeth communities for more than a decade, providing residents and trusted networks with access to support services that help alleviate fuel poverty, and developing engagement methods that work with communities who do not necessarily have trust in statutory services.
Together, we’re joining forces with community leads and voluntary sector support groups to help Lambeth households address the underlying causes of fuel poverty, helping those most vulnerable and at risk of living in cold and unhealthy homes.
Project objectives
- Providing 3,900 Lambeth households with information on energy advice, income maximisation and CO safety through trusted community and social networks
- Supporting 780 households with in-person energy and income maximisation advice
- Providing 300 households in energy crisis with emergency fuel vouchers
- Promoting the Priority Services Register and helping families sign up for the free service
- Raising awareness of carbon monoxide (CO) safety and providing 130 free CO alarms
- Arranging proactive boiler servicing for 100 eligible households
- Training 450 frontline workers on how to support households in fuel poverty
How we’re working together
Energy support workshops
Our face-to-face energy support workshops are an opportunity for Lambeth residents to build energy knowledge and confidence that they can share with their friends, neighbours and other social networks. The workshops cover topics including energy efficiency and rights, DIY draughtproofing, income maximisation, the Priority Services Register (PSR), carbon monoxide (CO) safety and smart meters.
While we offer a year-round service, we increase our community-based activities during the winter months, when there is a greater need to provide practical support to keep residents safe and warm.
One-to-one support at home
Repowering London is able to advise households on the Priority Services Register and help households in fuel poverty access additional support on how to reduce energy costs safely and efficiently. Where eligible, we’re also able to provide carbon monoxide alarms and proactive boiler servicing and onward referral into energy efficiency measure schemes.
Training for frontline workers
We’re providing frontline workers with training to increase knowledge and resources to identify and support households in energy crisis, leveraging existing social services and voluntary sector networks to fight fuel poverty more effectively.
How to get involved
Getting support from Repowering London
Repowering London will be advertising details of upcoming energy support workshops and events in the community on its website. If you’d like to receive updates directly from the Repowering London team, please get in touch.
Becoming a Repowering London partner
Repowering London will be working with other community partners in Lambeth to provide energy support workshops and training for frontline workers through this partnership.
If you are a community stakeholder and believe that your team or your service users could benefit, please get in touch with Rachel at rachel.brain@repowering.org.uk.
We're delighted to be working in partnership with SGN to expand our support for vulnerable households in Lambeth over the next two years. As a community energy organisation, Repowering London is working to build a clean, affordable energy future for everyone. This partnership with SGN will enable us to support Lambeth residents who are struggling with their energy costs today, while building community capacity for longer-term solutions – to ultimately provide lower-cost energy, create warmer and healthier homes, reduce urban health deficits, and end fuel poverty.