Energy aid equivalent to food bank

[cumbriaumbria]

Is there a way those able to can assist those who can't afford to have heating on.

Sitting here in my warm (ish!) house looking out at the beautiful frosty ground with bright blue skies and it got me thinking about all the people who will be suffering with this massive temperature drop. We donate to a food bank, take coats/tents etc to charities for the homeless but what fairly instant thing can we do (possibly on a local level?) to help people be able to turn on their heating? We are in no way able to pay someone's whole bill but there must be people like us willing to give a little to help others and it all adds up.

I've thought about posting on a local Facebook page asking if anyone needs help but I'm not sure that's the right way to go about it, not even sure there is any answer but giving to a fuel charity doesn't seem instant enough if that makes sense.

Problem is that FB groups etc are rife with scammers among those who are genuinely in need. I get what you say about it not being 'instant' enough, but I think the only way to be sure your money is going to someone who really needs it is via one of the charities.

Perhaps you could collate a list of places offering grants and help and post it in some of your groups, so people know where to go. A lot of the time there is help out there, people just don't know how to access it. For example, British Gas has an energy trust that's not just for customers that can pay off debts and things on allocation.

We have energy credits given out from the food bank and surplus food place. There are checks in place to ensure it can't be abused

Acts 435 often has requests for help with bills.
www.acts435.org.uk/

That's interesting, thank you. I'll speak to the food bank and see if there is anything we can do through them.

Have a look at National Energy Action. They help people who are struggling and you can donate. We donated the £150 after reading about the campaign on here.

Also help people by promoting the various grants and other schemes, there's actually quite a bit of help available but awareness is often poor. Moneysavingexpert.com has a big 'cost of living' section with information about what is available.

Thank you for that, I have put a a clickable list of help available along with any qualifying criteria together and I'm planning on posting it to the various local groups in our area today. There is a lot of support available but it's been an eye opener how long it took to research!

Just make cash donation to food bank then they can purchase energy vouchers i presume ? Or if people can use food banks more that frees up money for energy.