A £3million grant has been awarded to a community action charity to help vulnerable families in East Lancashire save money on their household bills.

Groundwork received the grant from the Cadent Foundation to support the expansion of its Green Doctors programme in Burnley, Blackburn and Blackpool.

Green Doctors are energy efficiency experts helping vulnerable households stay warm and well, save money on their household bills and improve energy efficiency at home.

As part of a new three-year partnership, the £3million grant will enable Groundwork to expand the Green Doctor programme, deploying trained advisors in priority locations, providing advice to thousands of vulnerable households.

National chief executive of Groundwork, Graham Duxbury, said: “Groundwork is delighted to have the support of the Cadent Foundation to deliver such a worthwhile project that will benefit some of the most vulnerable people across Cadent’s network.

“Around four million people in the UK are in fuel poverty, unable to afford to live in a warm, dry home.

"With more people at home, increased utility costs and unemployment rising due to the financial impact of the pandemic, more families will be experiencing extreme financial hardship as well as the emotional strain of keeping themselves and their loved ones well.

“Working with priority groups this new partnership will help vulnerable households boost their income by saving energy, so that they can live more comfortably and reduce their environmental impact.”

In the first year, the project aims to support at least 3,000 vulnerable households through Green Doctor consultations, deliver at least 300 training events in local communities and install 9,000 small energy saving measures to achieve annual cost savings amongst vulnerable households of up to £465,000.

Green Doctors will visit people in their homes, provide remote support, and attend community events, delivering energy efficiency advice, promoting behaviour change and installing energy saving and warm home measures.

They will also work with other services to provide rounded support to vulnerable households.

Some of the services offered by the Green Doctors include identifying causes of heat loss in the home, help with damp or mould problems, installing small energy efficiency measures, and supporting people to switch energy providers to save money.

Director of the Cadent Foundation, Julia Dwyer, said: “Supporting people out of fuel poverty is one of the fundamental objectives of the Cadent Foundation and this new partnership with Groundwork will offer free, practical help and advice to thousands of people.

“We’re delighted to support Groundwork’s Green Doctors programme and look forward to working with them closely over the next three years to help lift people out of fuel poverty.”

The Cadent Foundation is funded by local gas network Cadent, and has been established to support projects in energy poor communities.

For more information visit cadentfoundation.com or groundwork.org.uk.