Home-Start UK are pleased to announce a new partnership with Cadent, as Home-Start joins Cadent’s Centres for Warmth programme. Cadent, the UK’s largest gas distribution network, will invest £350k over the next two years, with 70 per cent of the funding being distributed across 28 local Home-Starts which will begin operating as additional Centres for Warmth locations.

Home-Start, which this year celebrates 50 years of supporting families, is delighted to join the programme, supporting struggling families in areas where Cadent operates. Cadent’s Centres for Warmth aim to help those living in vulnerable situations by keeping them warm, safe, and connected. The funding from Cadent will enable local Home-Starts to continue running groups that provide families with a warm space to go, not just to keep out the cold, but also to connect with others. The money will also provide slow cookers, carbon monoxide alarms, gas safety information, advice and support.

 

Talking about the new partnership, Home-Start UK’s Deputy CEO, Vivien Waterfield, said “Cadent’s Centres for Warmth programme is a brilliant initiative that aims to support people facing fuel poverty by providing important advice and guidance on energy bills and money management.  The new partnership will go a long way in helping local Home-Starts to continue supporting families as we head into what will be another difficult winter for many.”

 

One of the local Home-Starts receiving support as a Centre for Warmth, is Home-Start Erewash in Derbyshire. Manager Bren Butler explains how the funding has helped.

Bren said: “The support from Cadent is helping to boost our frontline support to keep local families warm and fed this winter. We are supporting a mum who is going through a really terrible time. Yesterday she broke down emotionally and shared the details of the last eight painful months. She then apologised to us for being ‘smelly’. When we asked what she meant she said ‘I haven’t bathed or washed my hair for months and been living on takeaway, but tonight I’m going to use my new slow cooker and cook myself something nice and treat myself to a bath.’ It brought tears to my eyes. It’s the little things that are so enormously huge in their significance.”

 

Phil Burrows, Head of Customer Vulnerability Delivery at Cadent, said: “Our gas network covers some of the most deprived areas in the UK, so we see first-hand the impact that choosing between eating and heating can have on people’s lives. We want to play our part by providing access to easier warmth now and in the future, through supporting those who are struggling the most. 

 

“The cost-of-living crisis has led to an even greater number of our customers experiencing concerns on energy affordability. By partnering with Home-Start UK, we’re able to extend our Centres for Warmth programme and provide practical and long-lasting affordability advice to those who need it.”  

 

Since 1973, Home-Start has supported over 1.5 million children, across 180 local Home-Starts, supporting 56,000 children in 27,000 families in communities across the UK.