Bristol Emergency Winter Fuel Fund

What is it?

The Bristol Emergency Winter Fuel Fund is the culmination of amazing generosity from Bristolians and others! It’s a pot of money distributed through an established referral system and trusted community partners, specifically to help people with their energy bills over the colder months between 2022 and 2023. Bristol Energy Network oversaw something similar last year called the Bristol Emergency Covid Fund. With your help, we raised £20,000 to help Bristolians in need during the coronavirus pandemic.

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Why is it needed?

For a variety of reasons, energy bills have gone up by around 80% since April 2022. Even with the financial measures announced by the Government, a typical household will still be paying £2,500 a year. And those financial measures are due to end in April, meaning bills will go up even further then. On top of this, inflation in November 2022 was recorded at 11.1%, meaning prices for basic goods are going up at the fastest rate in decades. Wages are not keeping pace with inflation, either. Forecasts say thousands of Bristolians will struggle to heat their homes or cook their dinner this winter, with the rise in energy prices.

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Who’s involved?

Five community partners, known as anchor organisations (because they’re rooted in their communities and know them best) are distributing the Bristol Emergency Winter Fuel Fund. They are: Ambition Lawrence Weston, Eastside Community Trust, Lockleaze Neighbourhood Trust, Re:work, and Heart of BS13. CHAS (City-Wide Housing Advice Service) and Bristol Disability Equality Forum are also supporting the Fund’s efforts too. Bristol Energy Network is helping the community partners to organise things and spearheading the comms effort to get Bristolians donating!

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What’s the referral process?

You need to be referred in order to receive help from the Bristol Emergency Winter Fuel Fund. That might be through one of the five community partners directly, a GP or district nurse, another community or religious organisation, a councillor or MP, or a foodbank. You can access referral forms here. Please make it clear in the subject line of your email that you are referring someone for help from the Fund, as this makes it easier for the community partners. Each partner is distributing the Fund according to their own GDPR and data security processes, which are also described in the link.

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We want the Fund to help as many people in Bristol as possible. Referrals can expect to receive the following:

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Single Person – £60

Couple – £80

Family of 1 Dependent (e.g. child, older person) – £100

Family of 2+ Dependents – an extra £20 per dependent up to £150 maximum.

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As a general rule of thumb, community partners will stick to the giving amounts above. In particularly exceptional circumstances where a small variation to the giving amount would make a significant situational difference, community partners may decide to award a slightly different amount. This is solely at the discretion of the community partners.

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How will this work in practice?

Each community partner is taking referrals for residents living near their area, as per the map below. Between them all, every part of Bristol is covered. The area that each partner is covering is outlined in blue. We are only able to take referrals to support people living in the Bristol City Council area. That area is outlined below in orange. The map is intended to be a rough outline only, so if you’re not sure which community partner should be helping someone, select the organisation that best fits their address when making a referral.

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Ambition Lawrence Weston is covering North West Bristol: including Lawrence Weston, Avonmouth, Brentry, Shirehampton, and Sea Mills.

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• Referrer downloads and fills out the Word document application form (below) for Ambition Lawrence Weston.
• Referrer sends this as an attachment to a secure email to Donna at donna.sealey@ambitionlw.org. 
• These details get stored in a protected spreadsheet (with minimal information) which is only accessible by the finance administrator and one manager.
• Once payment is made, the finance administrator will delete the account number and sort code from the system, and the email containing the details.

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Lockleaze Neighbourhood Trust is covering North East Bristol: including Lockleaze, Southmead, Fishponds, and Horfield.

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Option 1 – using online form + secure email

• Referrer fills out the online application form here.
• Referrer sends a secure email to Rosie at admin@lockleazent.co.uk with the bank details of the person needing support.
• These details get stored in a protected spreadsheet (with minimal information) which is only accessible by the finance administrator and one manager.
• Once payment is made, the finance administrator will delete the account number and sort code from the system, and Rosie will delete the email containing the details.

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Option 2 – using Word document form + secure email

• Referrer downloads and fills out the word document application form for Lockleaze Neighbourhood Trust.
• Referrer sends this as an attachment to a secure email to Rosie at admin@lockleazent.co.uk. 
• These details get stored in a protected Spreadsheet (with minimal information) which is only accessible by the finance administrator and one manager.
• Once payment is made, the finance administrator will delete the account number and sort code from the system, and Rosie will delete the email containing the details.

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Eastside Community Trust is covering Central and East Bristol: including Broadmead, Easton, Eastville, Lawrence Hill, St George, Barton Hill and Redfield.

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• Referrer downloads and fills out the Word document application form for ECT.
• Referrer sends this as an attachment to a secure email to Stacy at stacy@upourstreet.org.uk. 
• These details get stored in a protected spreadsheet (with minimal information) which is only accessible by the finance administrator and one manager.
• Once payment is made, the finance administrator will delete the account number and sort code from the system, and the email containing the details.

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Heart of BS13 is covering part of South Bristol: including Hartcliffe, Bishopsworth, Withywood, Stockwood, and Hengrove.

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• Referrer downloads and fills out the Word document application form (below) for Heart of BS13.
• Referrer sends this as an attachment to a secure email to Kirsty at kirsty.hammond@heartofbs13.org.uk. 
• These details get stored in a protected spreadsheet (with minimal information) which is only accessible by the finance administrator and one manager.
• Once payment is made, the finance administrator will delete the account number and sort code from the system, and the email containing the details.

CAMEL

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Re:work is covering part of South Bristol: including Knowle West, Brislington, Southville, Bedminster, and Crew’s Hole.

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• Referrer downloads and fills out the Word document application form for Re:work.
• Referrer sends this as an attachment to a secure email to Vicky at vicky@reworkltd.org.uk with the bank details of the person needing support.
• These details get stored in a protected spreadsheet (with minimal information) which is only accessible by the finance administrator and one manager.
• Once payment is made, the finance administrator will delete the account number and sort code from the system, and the email containing the bank details will be deleted.
• The person being referred will only be contacted if there’s a problem with the payment, or because either Re:work or Bristol Energy Network has secured funding that offers further support. 

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Are any of you taking a cut from donations?

No. We’ve managed to secured funds externally to cover the cost of running and distributing the Bristol Emergency Winter Fuel Fund, which means we don’t have to take a single penny from donations. It means it can all go towards helping Bristolians who need it.

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Will it affect my Universal Credit if I get help from the Fund?

No, receiving money from the Bristol Emergency Winter Fuel Fund will not affect any Universal Credit payments you receive. You are allowed to receive that money on top of any benefits you are entitled to.

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How can I donate?

You can use the button below to go to our JustGiving page or type in “Bristol Emergency Winter Fuel Fund” online. Your donation will help keep a Bristolian’s heating on during the coldest months of the year. Anything you can give is massively appreciated!

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CAMEL

CAMEL