Energy Hardship Fund raises over £200,000 in three weeks to help residents struggling with the cost of their energy bills
The Energy Hardship Fund hits £200,000 to help residents who are struggling with the cost of their energy bills this winter, thanks to strong support from the sector.
HACT’’s response to the pressing need for action on fuel poverty this winter was to set up the Energy Hardship Fund. After 3 weeks of fundraising, the fund has received strong support from social housing providers, suppliers and partners with generous donations taking the total raised so far to over £200,000.
The fund is an opportunity to come together as a sector, and to make a statement that energy hardship is a reality many communities already face. This is vital, in face of the risk of more residents falling into fuel poverty, a result of the rising energy prices and cuts to universal credit.
Jon Lord, chair of Greater Manchester Housing Providers and group chief cxecutive of Bolton at Home made the following call to action.
“Please join us and contribute to the Energy Hardship Fund. Our support can make a world of difference to households struggling with the cost-of-living crisis. The situation of higher energy prices is massively compounded by a whole set of more challenging circumstances if you’re on a low income, without savings to fall back on, falling into debt to pay bills, unable to access low interest rates and at risk of being put on prepayment meters. It’s going to hit those with the least money, the most.”
Social housing organisations across the UK have committed donations and support to the Energy Hardship Fund. This week Progress Housing Group, Abri and Golding Homes have made donations and pledged to support the campaign.
Michelle Dawson, director of Housing and Communities at Abri said.
“It’s really important that we back HACT’s Energy Hardship Fund at a time when customers need additional support. The cold weather is already up on us, and energy prices are rising. Fuel poverty is a constant concern, and we should do everything we can so that customers don’t have to choose between heating and other crucial costs, such as food and rent.”
The Energy Hardship Fund fundraising campaign launched on Wednesday 20 October 2021. HACT is seeking corporate donations to the fund from social housing providers, partners and friends of the social housing sector. Their aim is to raise £1 million to redistribute it as fuel vouchers to social housing residents across the UK this winter.
Andrew van Doorn, chief executive, HACT, said:
“Last year, in response to the pandemic, HACT raised and distributed £1 million in energy vouchers to over 16,000 resident households across the UK, through a network of over 160 housing associations. This year, the need for energy vouchers is even higher. So, we have launched the Energy Hardship Fund. Our aim is to fundraise for another £1 million that we can distribute through our existing networks to social housing residents across the UK. If we can achieve this, we can demonstrate the power of the sector when it acts together.”
The £200,000 raised so far has come from the generous donations of supporters across the sector and beyond. There is momentum in the fund, but HACT are seeking support from more supporters to tackle fuel poverty collectively. To make a corporate donation, please contact HACT via the Energy Hardship Fund’s dedicated email address: energy.hardship@hact.org.uk
In order to provide more information on the distribution of the energy vouchers from the fund, along with the opportunity for supporters to ask any questions, HACT will be holding a Q & A session on Tuesday 16th of November, register here
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