VCMA project - Fuel Bank Foundation - Further expand Fuel Bank across Northern England

A contract has been put in place with The Fuel Bank Foundation (FBF) they are an independent charity that aims to support families who pay in advance for energy, typically via a prepayment energy meter and are at risk of self-disconnection or severe rationing or indeed have self-disconnected. Self-disconnection is an unfortunate term: people don't choose to self disconnect, when the money runs out the electricity and gas switch off too. In the current climate we are seeing more people than ever turn to the Foundation for much-needed support. These services are only able to be delivered by this independent charity. As a fully independent charitable foundation 'Fuel Bank' has supported over 1 million people - who in turn are supplied by all UK energy suppliers - since launch eight years ago. We have developed a network of 675 partners across the country who act as an entry point into Fuel Bank. A mix of national bodies and local, community-based organisations, what unites them and makes them part of Fuel Bank is that they target distinct demographic groups or particular types of need and identify households in Fuel Crisis. These families are referred into and provided with same-day help from Fuel Bank, to get 'the lights back on and the gas reflowing by tea-time', alongside being provided by relevant and easy-to-access energy advice to give additional support and to lower household money spent on energy. Our key target is that we provide support and help to people within hours of them being referred to us; currently we achieve this over 98% of the time. This creates the enabler that advice provided can be acted upon, with an aim to reduce the propensity for future referral into Fuel Bank for continued crisis help.