Our partnerships help us reach more people

As we start to turn our attention to the green recovery, it’s more important than ever that we work to develop both new partnerships and new opportunities through our existing partnerships.

Read on for some examples of partnership efforts taking place across the country that we’re particularly proud of. And, if you’re interested in working with us, we’d love to hear from you – just drop us an email.

Link workers in East Lothian

In April, we first met with YOU; an organisation based in Edinburgh and the Lothians that supports people with learning disabilities, mental health issues, people who are homeless and vulnerable people. They were keen to work with us to ensure their Community Link Workers could refer service users to us for energy advice and access to funding. Training on our services and portal was completed last month and we are ready to reach more people in the community through the Community Link Workers.

Highland collaboration with CFINE

Our partnership officers in the north east of Scotland have established a very successful relationship with CFINE (Community Food Initiative North East). CFINE is a social enterprise committed to social, environmental and economic development and offers a range of support and services working both for and with disadvantaged, vulnerable and low-income people. In April, we met with them to discuss how we could help their staff. We have since delivered training on how Home Energy Scotland can support their team of new staff. They are also are planning to use our online referral portal once they have fully established the project.

Training for a new partner servicing Glasgow and the south west of Scotland

We really value our partners connecting us not only to clients but also to their network of other third sector organisations. One example is Visibility Scotland, who we’re delighted to now be partnering with to support people with visual impairments. They first got in touch after their CEO, Laura Walker heard about our offer of free electric heating, billing and metering training for organisations through another partner.

As part of their work in Greater Glasgow and in south west Scotland, they now share information on Home Energy Scotland’s services with their clients. We have since delivered training for their staff and ensured our presentation materials were accessible for the 30 per cent of their staff who experience a sight impairment.

Supporting homeless youth across Scotland

We have been working closely with the Rock Trust, Scotland’s homelessness charity for younger people, to upskill staff, access funding, review their housing stock and engage their young people. Our workshops have helped equip their service delivery staff to educate their clients on the benefits of energy efficiency and how to reduce energy bills. As a social landlord they also wanted advice and support to improve the energy efficiency of their properties to help make tenants more comfortable, lower energy bills, reduce future maintenance bills, and plan ahead of future legislation. We’re delighted with the Rock Trust’s commitment to embed sustainability now for the future and look forward to working in partnership to help reduce fuel poverty.