On the 20th of January 2023, we held a launch event for our new ‘Stay Warm in Newham’ project in partnership with Cadent Foundation and Groundwork.
This project is vital and will provide practical and personalised support to Newham residents struggling with rising fuel costs. We were joined by the Mayor of Newham, partners, community leaders, and most importantly local residents of Newham to discuss how we can better support the most vulnerable in our community.
In October 2022 we conducted our Cost-of-Living Crisis survey, which revealed that 77% of those surveyed are worse off compared to the previous year, and 27% will not use heating to cope with the cost-of-living crisis. Staying warm in the winter months is not a luxury, and our community should not have to choose between using their heating or basic necessities such as food.
The Renewal Programme and our partners plan to support 3,000 Newham residents a year to access warm bank sessions, support, and activities. We will provide energy related hardship grants to some of its most vulnerable residents. We will also provide hot meals once a week and host volunteer led cooking classes to encourage residents to try different energy saving methods. We are excited to expand the reach of this project with the help of our community partners Kensington Primary School, Newham Community Project, and ClimateYouChange too.
“Our core purpose is to help households find sustainable solutions to fuel poverty by awarding grants to charities and organisations working to support those impacted by this growing issue. With high levels of fuel poverty in Newham we wanted to bring together key stakeholders to work towards alleviating fuel poverty in the borough and so we got in touch with the Renewal Programme to see how we could identify the gaps in support and working together on a project to tackle fuel this problem.
We are delighted to be able to offer this grant to Renewal Programme to enable them to support the local residents of Newham through the ‘Stay Warm in Newham’ project. With rising energy costs and vulnerable households being forced to make difficult decisions every day, we hope the practical help and advice this project will offer through a dedicated link worker service, will benefit local residents and help to make a real difference, at such a difficult time. We believe that by using a holistic ‘one stop shop’ approach, this project will provide Newham residents with in-depth personalised support to improve their circumstances.”
Julia Dwyer, Director of the Cadent Foundation
We are determined to stand with Newham residents during these trying times and provide the support needed to tackle the rising levels of fuel poverty, and we are proud to be working with Cadent Foundation and Groundwork to do this.
Our Warm Haven sessions will run Tuesdays and Fridays from 11:00-13:00. For more information please contact info@renewalprogramme.org.uk
For more information on Groundwork’s Green Doctor programme, together with tips and advice on keeping your home warm this winter, please contact GreenDoctorsLDN@groundwork.org.uk and visit www.groundwork.org.uk/greendoctor
