Utility Week

UTILITY WEEK | 22ND - 28TH JUNE 2018 | 19 Operations & Assets The judges' verdict The judges said the winning entry was a pioneering project that established community hubs across Northumberland. Service providers and energy compa- nies. Warm Hubs are an easy way for other organisations to engage vulnerable, difficult- to-reach customers. British Gas, National Energy Action, Green Doctors and SGN are among a number of organisations that have attended Warm Hubs or taken part in a Warm Hub energy roadshow. Why this approach? Research by National Energy Action shows that rural areas such as Northumberland are five years behind urban areas when it comes to home energy efficiency. This can place low-income residents in extreme hardship. Under NGN's regulatory contract with Ofgem, the company must help combat fuel poverty by installing 14,500 free gas connec- tions to off-grid communities by 2021. However, Northumberland has a large number of rural, geographically-isolated communities, for which free gas connec- tions may be cost-prohibitive. Forty per cent of Northumberland's population live in rural areas, and more than 17,000 people are income deprived. NGN says it needed another way to help these communities. What were the initiative's KPIs? One of the aims of the initiative was to pro- vide holistic support for 1,000 vulnerable customers off the gas grid within three years. This was achieved. More than 1,000 resi- dents in Northumberland now attend Warm Hubs each week during the winter months. NGN also set out to make the Warm Hubs financially self-sufficient within three years, and over £750,000 in funds has been secured from external sources (The National Lottery, for example) . It wanted to create a replicable, scalable model, and there are now 20 Warm Hubs thriving in Northumberland; a pilot hub in Newcastle and a Warm Hubs trial under con- sideration in the south of England. The initial aim was to train 100 volunteers within three years: in reality, more than 200 volunteers have received training. How was creativity demonstrated? Warm Hubs has created new ways of tackling fuel poverty, as well as educating local com- munities on gas safety and the dangers of carbon monoxide. What impact has the project had on the company? Off the back of the project, NGN launched a brand new £50,000 Community Promises Fund to support local communities across the north of England. The fund offers grants of between £1,000 and £10,000 to third sec- tor organisations and community groups with innovative approaches to alleviate hard- ship and other challenges associated with fuel poverty, educate around energy effi- ciency ideas and raise awareness of the dan- gers of carbon monoxide poisoning. Funding is also available to groups that encourage people to get involved with STEM subjects (science, technology, engineering and maths) and related career opportunities. NGN says it is committed to surpassing its social obligations on fuel poverty, support- ing vulnerable customers and raising carbon monoxide awareness. It uses Warm Hubs as a platform to deliver key information, such as advice on switching and energy saving. As a result, an estimated £1.2 million has been saved in household energy bills. NGN says that the project has developed into much more than what it was initially intended to be. Who was involved? Tom Bell, head of social strategy at NGN, worked with Christine Nicholls, CAN's com- munity development officer and organisa- tional lead on energy equality, and with chief executive, Andy Dean. The two compa- nies trained more than 200 volunteers who helped extend the project across the region by informing the rollout, suggesting vulner- able groups and areas in the region to target. Nicholls says the success of the project is down to the volunteers. Were there any hurdles? A major obstacle, NGN says, was "trying to constrain it". The gas distributor put the appropriate facilities in place within the hubs and provided training for volunteers to work with the community. What was the cost? Initially NGN funded the project, delivering about £50,000. By working with CAN, it used some of the money to seek small funds and grants to gain further funding. The project surpassed its financial aims, with more than £750,000 in matched funding from external contributors. Winner's comments "We are delighted that the Warm Hubs initiative has been recognised with the Community Initiative of the Year Award. Fuel poverty is a problem throughout our region, so we launched our Warm Hubs scheme to reach out to those residents who are living in uncomfortable conditions and struggling to keep warm. It's an honour to hear that the scheme has been recognised because we have a further four hubs planned for Newcastle City Centre." TOM BELL, HEAD OF SOCIAL STRATEGY, NORTHERN GAS NETWORKS NGN on awards night

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