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Fuel Poverty seminar marks progress in County Durham

Over 80 health, housing and social care professionals came together for the third annual Healthy Homes Fuel Poverty Partnership seminar to celebrate the progress made in helping the region’s most vulnerable people over the past 18 months.

The seminar – Innovation, Progress and the Partnership Effect – took place at the Durham Leadership Centre on Wednesday, 7 November. It brought together representatives from a wide range of organisations, including Citizens Advice Bureau, Macmillan and a number of utility companies, along with housing, health and social care representatives from local authorities across the North East.

The seminar, which was hailed a huge success by organisers and delegates alike, showcased the work which has been taking place in County Durham to tackle the problem of fuel poverty. The event also provided an opportunity for health, housing and social care workers to look to the future and discuss plans and approaches on how to most effectively alleviate the problem in years to come.

tadea, a Billingham-based sustainability organisation, helps to deliver County Durham Healthy Homes Partnership projects. tadea works with some of the region’s most vulnerable individuals and groups to make sure they can stay warm and healthy throughout the winter. And thanks to the organisation’s position as a sector leader in the field of environmental sustainability, focus also fell upon how best to utilise the Green Deal and the Energy Company Obligation (ECO)* in a bid to effectively help those who are fuel poor.

The event’s keynote speech was delivered by Professor Eugene Milne, Regional Deputy Director of Public Health and a passionate advocate for reducing health and wellbeing inequalities in the North East.

Sarah Lee is tadea’s Health Projects Manager. She says: “The Healthy Homes Fuel Poverty Partnership seminar was an amazing morning and our best event yet. It was a good mix of public, private and third-sector organisations, all of whom had a link to alleviating poverty in some way.

“Professor Milne’s keynote speech really set the scene for the day and all the presentations were valuable, topical, and at times inspirational, delivered by engaging and passionate individuals. Hearing the impact of our projects first-hand from the two ladies we helped last winter through the Energy on Prescription project was extremely powerful and very humbling. I think it brought our message home to all the delegates on the day, and feedback on the event so far has been superb.”

Pam Spurell, a patient representative at the seminar, was assisted by Energy on Prescription last winter. The project looks at investing in vulnerable households to help residents stay out of hospital by keeping them warm at home. Pam says: “This event was well worth attending because it brought together speakers from Welfare Reforms, ECO and the Green Deal.

“The most important presentation on the day was on Energy on Prescription. Speaking as a disabled person, this service meant that I could switch on my heating without being scared [of the financial implications of doing so]. In turn, this ensured that last winter I did not suffer with chest infections. Also, because of my limited walking ability, I found that I was able to sit in my chair without having to put on a coat to keep me warm. This also helped me with pain relief as when I am cold my illness becomes more intense.”

To see the presentations given at the fuel poverty seminar, click here.

To find out more about tadea, visit: www.tadea.com

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by tadea .