Supporting the vital work of East Ayrshire Women's Aid

How does the service work with Home Energy Scotland? 

The Scottish Government tasks Home Energy Scotland to focus our efforts engaging new affordable warmth partner organisations in specific priority areas; one of which is low-income families. This led our Home Energy Scotland partnership officers to approach EAWA in December 2022 to tell them about Home Energy Scotland and invite EAWA to join an information session to find out how we could support their clients. Initially, they preferred to signpost clients, then in 2022 they held meetings with us to explore creating an active referral partnership and we delivered training on the Home Energy Scotland online referral portal to their team. We meet with them annually to review the partnership and ensure they are briefed on any changes to the support available from Home Energy Scotland.

What is the outcome of the partnership? 

Since signing up to use the portal in November 2022, EAWA has made 43 referrals to Home Energy Scotland. The people EAWA refers to Home Energy Scotland are often experiencing disruption to their living situation and often are moving into a new tenancy. EAWA carry out benefit checks to ensure that the people they support receive the benefits they are entitled to. People referred from EAWA are rarely eligible for funding for energy-efficient home improvements, due to tenure (housing association and local authority homes are not eligible) or because they have not yet been a resident for six months (private rented sector tenants and owner-occupiers are not eligible until they have six months residency). 

Home Energy Scotland support will typically be focused on giving practical energy advice and signposting. We will advise on how to use heating controls, how to set a suitable heating regime for the type of heating system and controls in the property, and how to use appliances and water efficiently. We will also advise on supplier switching, and whether the metering type is suitable, particularly for electric heating, which includes storage heating traditionally supplied on a 2-rate or 3-rate time-switched or tele-switched tariff, and air source heat pump which requires 24/7 supply. When appropriate, we also make referrals to crisis funding such as the Fuel Bank Foundation for pre-payment meter emergency credit vouchers and have previously referred to the (now closed) Home Heating Support Fund and signpost to the Scottish Welfare Fund as well as other sources of support such as Turn2Us. 

Find out more about the partnership work we do, and if you’d like to get involved, contact our team today.