What is Healthy Homes, Healthy People?

Creating Warmer, Safer, Healthy Homes

Living in a cold home can have catastrophic effects on people’s physical and mental well-being, exacerbating pre-existing conditions and contributing to the development of new ones. Supporting people to heat their homes more affordably, and so live in warmer, safer, healthier homes is at the heart of the Healthy Homes, Healthy People project. 

Our team of Community Workers provides telephone support to people across Wales and the South West of England in relation to a number of topics that help people heat their homes more affordably. By discussing the needs of the individual and those in their household, the team can provide tailored support, specific to that person.

‘Once you start talking to people, it’s amazing how much they open up to us, it’s a trusted position, having people tell you so much. What they tell us means we can access the right support for them whether that’s a new boiler, a winter fuel payment, a capped water tariff, some home adaptions… maybe all those things’

Katrina, Lead Community Worker

The work of Healthy Homes, Healthy People focuses primarily on identifying ways that people can save money on heating their homes. This is done either directly, through accessing winter energy payments or more efficient heating systems; or indirectly, through accessing other money saving options such as benefits checks and capped water tariffs. The knock-on effects of these measures for householders can be considerable.

‘I speak to quite a few people who are very anxious about their living situation, and the support that we provide can help alleviate that. Having a warmer home makes a big difference to people. One person I recently supported was really happy because now their home was warm, ready for when their elderly father would be discharged from hospital and coming to stay with them. It’s fantastic the impact we can have’

Kathy, Community Worker

The work of the project often involves supporting people to access types of small payments to help towards their energy bills. This winter has included the Welsh Winter Fuel Support Scheme, the Warm Homes Discount, and various emergency or crisis payments. While these payments are available to anyone who is eligible, many are unaware that they exist or they are uncertain about how to apply for them. By guiding people through these processes, our Community Workers can help ease the burden of paying for fuel at a critical time.

So many people don’t know about these schemes. I recently helped one person access the Warm Homes Discount for the first time. It’s £140, and they would have been eligible in previous years as well, but just weren’t aware of it. He was very grateful for the support.

Ceinwen, Community Worker

Since autumn 2017, Healthy Homes, Healthy People has supported more than 3700 households to have warmer, safer, healthier homes. While for some, a warm home may be something that is taken for granted, for too many it is a luxury they cannot afford, and as energy prices continue to rise, the role of our Community Workers and the support they can offer becomes ever more critical.