What Is Next? Turning up the heat on fuel poverty

Lench’s Trust has secured £22,950 in revenue funding, to help older residents benefit from lower energy costs and to gain insights to help other organisations improve energy efficiency.

The charitable trust, which was founded some 500 years ago, successfully applied for a grant from the Heat Network Efficiency Scheme (HNES).

This is a £77m grant support programme that provides funding to public, private and third sector applicants in England and Wales, to support improvements to existing district heating or communal heating projects for customers and operators.

The monies will be spent on commissioning independent heat network specialists Chirpy Heat to monitor the performance of the communal heating at one of Lench’s Trust’s three schemes. More than 60 residents will directly benefit.

Lench’s Close was built in the 1980s, and it is hoped the six-month review of the heating system will improve the comfortableness of residents, spot reliability issues so they can be addressed quickly, flag ways to save on energy use and identify where there are opportunities to further contribute to the region’s net zero targets.

Dominic Bradley, Chief Executive of Lench’s Trust, said: “We’re delighted to have secured this funding, which will benefit not only our schemes and residents, but also wider landlords across the city with similar communal heating.

“By better monitoring the performance of the heating, we can begin to realise fuel and carbon savings in our existing projects, increase our transparency and visibility on net zero performance and – most importantly – improve residents’ quality of life.

“Our residents are in later life and so proven to be more likely as a demographic to experience the health impacts of fuel poverty. Feeling colder as you are older is something we - and our residents - want to avoid, whilst also protecting the environment for future generations.”

Louise Singleton, Programme Manager at the Heat Network Efficiency Scheme (HNES), explained why the funding is so important and why Lench’s Trust was successful in its application.

She “We are delighted to be supporting Lench’s Trust as they strive to create a more comfortable indoor environment for their residents, while reducing their energy consumption in the process.

“Heat networks offer customers a cost-effective and efficient supply of heat and will play a key role as we decarbonise the way we heat our homes. However, through projects such as this, we can increase confidence that any older infrastructure is operating as it should be or spot issues early, particularly as we move towards the winter months.”

To continue the 500th anniversary celebrations, Lench’s Trust is organising new facilities and activities for its older residents aimed at improving their lives. Echoing the generosity of William Lench, donations and sponsorship are welcomed. To find out more about becoming a Friend of Lench’s or to see available accommodation, please visit: https://www.lenchs-trust.co.uk/