Description
This project will deliver targeted, community-based energy advocacy across Gloucestershire, South Gloucestershire and Oxfordshire, focusing on minority and marginalised households who experience structural barriers to accessing safe, affordable energy services on participating GDNs' networks.
The scope of the project is shaped by learning from GD2 Reach Out delivery, alongside demographic analysis and extensive stakeholder engagement. Evidence shows that communities including refugees, asylum seekers, migrants, and Gypsy, Roma and Traveller households are disproportionately affected by fuel poverty and energy vulnerability. Barriers such as limited English proficiency, digital exclusion, insecure or poor-quality housing, unfamiliarity with the UK energy system and mistrust of statutory services significantly reduce engagement with suppliers and mainstream advice channels.
In Oxfordshire, growing diversity driven by sustained refugee and asylum dispersal, alongside increased reliance on temporary and private rented accommodation, has created areas of concentrated unmet need. Similar patterns continue across Gloucestershire and South Gloucestershire. Frontline organisations consistently report households who lack basic understanding of energy systems and are unable or unwilling to engage independently with suppliers, leading to heightened risk of energy debt, self-disconnection and unsafe heating practices, including increased carbon monoxide risk.
Delivery will be led by trained Community-Based Energy Advocates (CBEAs) embedded within trusted, non-statutory environments such as community hubs, ESOL provision, refugee support services, faith groups and minority-led organisations. This model ensures support is accessible, culturally competent and delivered face-to-face, enabling effective engagement with households who would otherwise remain hidden from traditional services.
Project objectives:
•Reduce structural and cultural barriers preventing minority households from accessing energy advice, supplier engagement and consumer protections
•Improve understanding of the UK energy system, billing arrangements, tariffs and consumer rights through accessible, language-appropriate support
•Increase uptake of the Priority Services Register (PSR) among eligible minority and displaced households
•Prevent self-disconnection and reduce energy debt through holistic, case-managed advocacy
•Promote gas and carbon monoxide safety through trusted, culturally relevant engagement
•Strengthen community resilience by equipping minority-focused frontline organisations to identify and refer vulnerable customers
The project will deliver clear benefits to customers on participating GDN networks by improving safety, increasing engagement with protective mechanisms such as the PSR, and enabling earlier intervention to prevent avoidable harm. By addressing accessibility, trust and cultural barriers, GD3 Reach Out will reduce risk on the gas network, improve customer resilience and ensure that minority households are able to access energy support equitably and safely.