Home Heat Helpline launches
advice guides on how to have a warmer winter
- New online guides launched in Bengali, Hindi and Chinese to assist households
where English is not their first language
- Guides contain hints and tips on keeping warm this winter
16th February 2007
With winter in full swing the Home Heat Helpline (0800 33 66 99) today
launched a range of new guides on how to keep warm this winter for households
where English is not their first language.
More than 3 million households are at risk from living in fuel poverty
and are spending more than 10 per cent of their income just keeping warm.
It is therefore critical that households are able to get the advice they
need to keep warm this winter. The Home Heat Helpline guide explains how,
by taking very simple steps, households can heat their home more efficiently
and pay less for their fuel bills this winter.
The new language guides have been produced in Bengali, Hindi and Chinese
and are available from the Home Heat Helpline website (www.homeheathelpline.org)
or by calling the Helpline on 0800 33 66 99. For all households where
English is not their first language and who would like advice and information
on keeping warm, the Helpline is calling on them to phone this number,
and speak to a qualified advisor using an interpreter through the Language
Line facility.
The Helpline is the only service for all customers who have difficulties
with heating their homes or paying for their energy bills no matter who
their energy supplier is. Over 38,000 people called the Home Heat Helpline
during its first twelve months. It is staffed by expert advisors, including
former health professionals who are trained to give advice on how to stay
warm during cold weather.
Helpline advisors can offer advice on benefits and grants such as winter
fuel payments for older people, as well as inclusion on Priority Service
Registers (PSR’s) for the disabled, and tips and hints on saving
energy. The Helpline can also take calls from intermediaries calling on
behalf of vulnerable people, such as friends, family, carers, social workers
or health visitors.
Duncan Sedgwick, Chief Executive of the Energy Retail Association comments
on the new guide,
“It is vital that all households in the UK are able to access
advice and support on keeping warm during the winter months. The launch
of these new language guides in Bengali, Hindi and Chinese are aimed at
households who may feel that because English is not their first language
they are unable to access information on how to insulate their home and
keep warm this winter. By using the new guides and taking advantage of
the Language Line facility we hope that households call the helpline as
soon as possible to get the support and advice they need.”
“The Home Heat Helpline is dedicated to making sure advice and
guidance on staying warm is available to anyone who needs it, and in a
form that they can easily understand. The Helpline already provides a
service which translates calls into almost any language currently spoken
in the UK. These guides are aimed at bringing information directly to
those may need advice and support this winter.”
“The guides, along with new guides in Welsh, Gaelic and Polish,
are available via the Home Heat Helpline website – www.homeheathelpline.org
– and I hope that relevant organisations and advice groups make
use of them when providing advice to households worried about heating
their home this winter.”
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Notes to editors
• Four Communications
0870 420 3245
HHH@fourcommunications.com
• Home Heat Helpline
Oliver Wright – 020 7747 5436
oliver.wright@energy-retail.org.uk
The guide is available at www.homeheathelpline.org/media
Home Heat Helpline – 0800 33 66 99
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The Home Heat Helpline operates
from Monday to Friday 9am-8pm and from 10am-2pm on Saturday. There
is a free minicom number (0800 027 2122) and the Helpline also has
access to interpreters for those callers whose first language is not
English. www.homeheathelpline.org
The Helpline is operated by The essentiagroup and is staffed by expert
advisers, including former health professionals, who are trained to
give advice on how to stay warm during the cold weather. They are
also trained and authorised to deal with intermediaries calling on
behalf of vulnerable customers, such as friends, carers, social workers
or health visitors
The Home Heat Helpline was launched by the Energy Retail Association
which was established in October 2003 and is the only dedicated trade
association for domestic energy suppliers in the UK. More information
can be found at www.energy-retail.org.uk
The Home Heat Helpline is a free service for all British citizens
and is funded by Britain’s six major energy suppliers which
is the only telephone helpline service that aims to tackle fuel poverty.
The energy suppliers spent £300 million between 2002 –
2005 on tackling fuel poverty and have committed to spend a further
£700 million over the next 3 years on this important issue.
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