Ideal Heating will support housing association Home Group to provide more than 200 of its customers with grants to put towards the cost of their energy bills.
The grants provided by the Home Group Fund, an initiative set up to support the housing association’s customers in times of crisis or need, will be funded by a donation from the Hull-based leading heating solutions manufacturer.
The Home Group Fund was launched in 2017 and aims to help its tenants across the UK and includes providing support to counter the rising cost of fuel.
Ideal Heating supplies heating solutions to 45,000 of the association’s homes and used its Corporate Social Responsibility Fund (CSR) to support the initiative. Set up in 2015, the CSR Fund provides funding for projects run by Ideal Heating customers that support their communities. Housing associations that install an Ideal boiler and register its warranty can claim £5 towards their own individual funds which can then be used to support any local scheme.
Dan Curran, Key Accounts Executive for Social Housing in the North East at Ideal Heating, commented: “Fuel poverty in social housing is a growing issue. For those with gas or electric meters, many are finding themselves in a vicious cycle, trying to pay off their debts whilst also having to top up their gas and electric for use each month.
“Understandably, many are worried and stressed about how they can continue to keep going, especially with the rate of inflation continuing to rise, now almost into double digits.
“When Home Group told us about their Fuel Poverty initiative, we were instantly keen to support it. We already had our Corporate Social Responsibility Fund and with the amount Home Group had generated through all their registrations, together we decided this would be the best way to help our customers and we hope many families will feel the benefit.”
Harry Drennan, Senior Procurement Category Manager at Home Group, said: “We are one of the UK’s largest providers of housing, health and care, and at our core is a mission to build homes which give people independence and a place they feel comfortable and safe. Over the past year the cost of living has only been increasing and off the back of the pandemic our mission has never been more crucial.
“We wanted to make a difference in a way our tenants could see the most obvious impact and tackling fuel poverty felt critical. It is brilliant to work with like-minded businesses like Ideal Heating who have played a huge role in helping us assist over 200 customers.”
