Forces for Warmth

Are you an older veteran with worries about the cost of fuel bills, or not understanding how your fuel bills work? Are you related to an older veteran who’s not heating their home properly because of these concerns? Help is at hand in the form of a service that provides energy advice for service (and ex-service) personnel and their families.

Fuel poverty

We recently reported that quarterly results from SSAFA, the Armed Forces charity, had revealed an 11% increase in veterans contacting Forcesline, its free helpline, over a number of issues. These include struggles with debt and the costs associated with housing. A study from The Royal British Legion reveals that a significant portion of the ex-service community aged 65 and over had experienced fuel poverty: often going without the use of fuel as a result of lower incomes.

Living in a house with insufficient heating is potentially dangerous during the winter months, particularly for older veterans who may be living alone and have limited mobility.

Forces for Warmth

Forces for Warmth, a collaboration between The Royal British Legion and National Energy Action (NEA) started life as a pilot project in the East Midlands. Its mission was to increase the awareness of, and support against the impact of, fuel poverty among those in the service and ex-service communities. It proved very successful, so the project was launched on a national level earlier this year.

How Forces for Warmth works

Forces for Warmth assists those that need help householders with:

• Fuel debt.
• New heating systems or home energy measures.
• Energy advice, advice on switching energy provider and energy efficiency.

This is done by having a frontline member of the Forces for Warmth team – trained by NEA’s award-winning training team via a training session – offer advice, support and practical help to alleviate your problem around fuel bills and heating your home. In some cases, they can refer those in need to the Forces for Warmth Crisis Fund, which helps provide financial support for energy measures such as heating systems or credit top-ups for energy emergencies.

If you, or someone you know, would benefit from the help provided by Forces for Warmth because they’re experiencing these problems, contact details are provided below.