13th July 2011 - Care & Repair Cymru Working With NPOWER Health Through Warmth

July 2011

Care & Repair Cymru Working With NPOWER Health Through Warmth  

Npower’s Health Through Warmth scheme today announced that it will be working with Care & Repair Cymru to enable vulnerable clients of Care & Repair Agencies to access financial support towards heating and insulation measures.

 he pilot, which will run until the end of 2011, enables Care & Repair Agencies in Wales to apply for funding from the unique npower Health Through Warmth crisis fund; to help residents who health is made worse by cold and damp living conditions and they don’t have adequate heating and insulation.

By working together, they hope to help residents who are not eligible for statutory grants and who cannot fully fund heating measures themselves. Each application will be reviewed on an individual basis, with the crisis fund used alongside other sources of funding towards the installation of heating and insulation works. 

Measures that Health Through Warmth may be able to assist with include cavity wall and loft insulation, repair or replacement for gas fires, storage heaters, central heating and boilers, as well as the draught proofing of existing doors and windows.

The Health Through Warmth scheme already operates in the Vale of Glamorgan and Wrexham & Flintshire; however, by working with Care & Repair Cymru the scheme will be able to reach beyond these areas and help to improve levels of warmth and comfort for eligible residents across the whole of Wales.

Elaine Midwinter, npower Health Through Warmth scheme manager, comments: “Health Through Warmth and Care & Repair Cymru are two organisations which provide help to vulnerable people, so we’re delighted to be working together. We hope to increase both the numbers, and geographical reach, of the people we are helping in Wales.” 

Chris Jones, managing director for Care & Repair Cymru, adds: “npower Health Through Warmth has become an established and successful scheme in the areas of Wales in which it currently operates, and we are looking forward to working together. We hope to widen the resources available to Care & Repair Agency clients and we are confident that the pilot scheme will be received positively across Wales during the next six months.”

Npower Health Through Warmth was set up in 2000 in partnership with the NHS and National Energy Action (NEA) and operates in 15 areas of England and Wales. Since this time, more than 68,000 people have been referred to the scheme, which has leveraged nearly £51million to secure heating and insulation measures for vulnerable residents with cold and damp related illnesses. Over £6million has also been accessed from the unique npower Health Through Warmth crisis fund.

For more information, visit www.healththroughwarmth.com or www.careandrepair.org.uk

-ENDS-

Notes to Editors:
*The npower Health Through Warmth (HTW) scheme operates in the following areas:
• Birmingham
• Dudley
• East Riding
• Leeds
• Leicester
• Merseyside
• Newark & Sherwood
• Newcastle / North Tyneside
• Staffordshire
• Swindon
• Telford & Wrekin
• Vale of Glamorgan
• Walsall
• Wolverhampton
• Wrexham & Flintshire

In 2011 the Health Through Warmth scheme has been re-accredited with a Big Tick award by Business in the Community in the Building Stronger Communities category of their Annual Awards for Excellence, This award recognises the company’s continued commitment to responsible business practice and the positive impact that the Health Through Warmth scheme continues to have on the lives of vulnerable people with cold and damp related illnesses who require assistance with installation and funding for heating and insulation measures. 

The npower Health Through Warmth scheme operates in 15 areas of England and Wales, listed above, and works in partnership with Primary Care Trusts (PCTs) and local authorities within the areas. Vulnerable residents in Health Through Warmth areas can be assessed for help through the scheme, regardless of whether or not they are an npower customer, provided they have a cold or damp related illness and they are referred by a community worker who has attended a Health Through Warmth awareness session. For further details about the areas the scheme operates in or more information about Health Through Warmth please visit www.healththroughwarmth.com or email healththroughwarmth@npower.com. Join the energy industry discussion on npower's interactive debating website the brighter energy debate where you can post your questions, views and comments.

Care & Repair Cymru is the national body for Care & Repair in Wales, and the Older Persons Housing Champion.

The 22 Care & Repair Agencies across Wales help older people to remain living in their own homes with increased independence and dignity. This is achieved by carrying out and facilitating adaptations, repairs and improvements for older people in their own homes.

Issued on behalf of npower Health Through Warmth by McCann Erickson PR, Communications House, Highlands Road, Shirley, Solihull, B90 4WE

For further information, contact Rebecca Wallace on 0121 713 3787 or Kate Dawson on 0121 713 3878. Email: rebecca.wallace@europe.mccann.com or kate.dawson@europe.mccann.com

For further information on npower, contact Nick McHugh on 01905 340 854 or email Nicholas.mchugh@npower.com

For further information on Care & Repair in Wales, contact Vera Brinkworth on 029 20576286 or email vera.brinkworth@careandrepair.org.uk