Since 2000, Warm Zones have demonstrated a cost-effective way to deliver help to households who are struggling to keep warm or to pay their fuel bills.
Newcastle Warm Zone adopted a ward-by-ward programme for the first four years of operation from April 2004 to March 2008.
From April 2008, the assessment team are retracing their steps across the city, visiting areas where uptake of measures has been low - ensuring that all residents are given the chance to take advantage of the offer before the programme ends in 2011/12.
The ward-by-ward programme followed the process below:-
- awareness raising - general and ward-specific marketing, promotion and direct mailing;
- assessment - a five minute doorstep questionnaire to gather selected information in confidence about the household. Assessment information determones whether a household is eligible for free measures;
- survey - Warm Zone's insulation contractors survey the property to determine what can be installed;
- installation - insulation measures installed, followed by monitoring and quality control checks carried out by the Warm Zone team;
- benefits and energy efficiency advice - free energy efficiency advice and a ‘benefits health check’ to see if any additional benefits are available.