Helping Heat Homes project

The Helping Heat Homes project was a short-life, community-led initiative designed to tackle child and household fuel poverty in two priority areas of the Outer Hebrides - the Galson Estate in North Lewis and the Stòras Uibhist Estate in South Uist and Benbecula. Delivered in partnership by Western Isles Citizens Advice Service (WICAS) and Muirneag Consulting Ltd, and funded by Comhairle nan Eilean Siar (CnES), Urras Oighreachd Ghabhsainn, and Stòras Uibhist, the project provided vital energy support to some of the islands’ most vulnerable families and households.

The project originated from a proven model developed by Muirneag Consulting through previous work with Point and Sandwick Trust. Encouraged to extend this model by PST, Muirneag engaged with key anti-poverty stakeholders including the Outer Hebrides Community Planning Partnership and NHS Western Isles. Through data analysis for the local Child Poverty Action Plan, two key geographies were identified as in urgent need of focused intervention. With support from both land-owning community trusts and time-limited CLLD funding, the project was rapidly mobilised, despite a narrow delivery window late in the financial year.

The project’s core aim was to assess and support fuel-poor family households, while also assisting vulnerable non-family households experiencing energy hardship. The approach combined in-depth fuel poverty assessment (based on the Scottish Government’s definition and rural Minimum Income Standard thresholds), targeted crisis grant delivery, and integrated signposting to wider services such as energy debt management, money advice, and home energy efficiency support.

You can read the results of the project below in the Helping Heat Homes Report.

Helping Heat Homes Report.pdf

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