In the last newsletter, the Electrical Safety Council (ESC) announced that, in partnership with Foundations, it would be looking for further agencies to help roll out a hardship fund. Its Electrical Hardship Fund aims to target vulnerable, low income households with emergency electrical safety repairs or adaptations.

Based on the successful model piloted by Bristol Care & Repair, the fund is meant to provide an immediate professional response by registered electricians while the local agency facilitates a more permanent or wide-reaching solution. The ESC has now announced the extension of the Electrical Hardship Fund, to four other organisations.

The ESC was looking for agencies with the capacity to prove existing need using robust monitoring and reporting systems. The success of the pilots will rely on the agency's ability to provide support beyond the demands of the emergency, so the ESC was also looking for agencies able to offer options and long-term solutions. Finally, the ESC was keen to find agencies capable of working with them on other innovative schemes to reduce harm caused by unsafe wiring, appliances or use.

Since September, the development consultants at Foundations have helped identify some 10 agencies who might have the capacity, local relationships with other partners and monitoring expertise to help administer these hardship funds, and invited them to make bids to the ESC. We are delighted that the ESC has announced the extension of its funding scheme to four more organisations - West Cornwall Care and Repair, Daventry-South Northants Care and Repair, Rochdale Borough Council and Nottingham Age Concern.

"Our pilot project with Bristol Care and Repair was so successful we decided to develop the scheme further", explains Cherry Read, Head of Communications at the Electrical Safety Council (ESC). "We have expanded the scheme to ensure we target those most at need - and the only way to do that effectively is to engage in partnership with locally-based bodies. We are delighted that we will be working with these four organisations and Foundations to fulfil a key aim: to work collaboratively to help people use electricity safely."

Kathryn Andrew, service development manager at Rochdale Borough Council HIA said:

"The ESC partnership will go a long way to helping vulnerable people with minor electrical safety issues in emergency situations where we have no other funds or schemes to help. It will make an enormous difference to our HIA just having the knowledge that we have a discretionary emergency fund and the staff are so pleased at the thought of being able to help elderly, disabled and vulnerable people with an immediate response.

None of our staff like to find themselves in a situation where we are unable to offer help to someone who is vulnerable and facing a difficult or emergency situation, particularly in relation to electrical safety. However, the reality has been that in some cases there have been no funding streams we can access in order to carry out what is often very minor work with a low cost value.

This ESC funding will allow us to offer this help when it is really needed and give the team an opportunity to be more creative and able to give a positive response. We are really looking forward to working with the ESC again after our joint electric blanket testing day. This was a great success and we have since found alternative funds to hold two more similar events."

Dave Davies, Manager at West Cornwall Care and Repair said:

"We are really pleased and grateful to have been awarded the funding from the ESC. It will enable us to assist clients much more quickly than we currently can. There is no grant assistance from Cornwall Council for repairs, and it can take time to access charitable funding. This funding will make a real difference."

For us at Foundations, we are really pleased that we have been able to facilitate partnerships that will see more people in real need helped with the least fuss and bother. The confidence the ESC shows in investing in local projects based on evidence of need, strong local partnerships and innovation is testament to the work of the sector in engaging with a range of agendas and stakeholders. It also highlights the extent to which evidence-based commissioning and proving the value of joint work is becoming increasingly important to everyone in the voluntary and statutory sectors.

The Electrical Safety Council is an independent charity committed to reducing deaths and injuries from electricity. The ESC acts as a consumer advocate, raising awareness of safety issues through a range of campaigns, and liaising with industry and government to protect consumers and promote best practice.
To find out more about the Electrical Safety Council, please go to www.esc.org.uk.

If you have an idea about how your HIA could help the ESC in its aims and objectives where you are, please contact me at fphilippa@cel.co.uk.