Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea Healthy Homes Initiative
What was the problem?
The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea’s Healthy Homes initiative was established to help local residents on low incomes who are likely to have trouble heating their homes during the winter by providing them with a free helpline to offer support, advice and access to funding.
Promoting the helpline to those who needed it most was a unique challenge. In an affluent borough that tops the tables in average life expectancy, house prices and average income, the most vulnerable members of society can be rendered almost invisible. Reaching them required all of SE2’s experience in communications and project management.
What did we do?
Working with the Borough council, NHS Trust and the charity Age Concern (now part of Age UK), SE2 helped to initiate the scheme in 2008. The three key aims were to help people reduce their fuel bills, to make sure they were receiving all the benefits they were entitled to and to help them make their homes more energy efficient.
Successfully communicating the value of the Healthy Homes initiative called for a positive approach, lateral thinking and a thorough understanding of the issues involved. Our team set to work on multiple fronts. In addition to visiting daycare centres, cafes and other key locations to engage directly with the target audience, we reached out to community and faith groups and used outlets such as the local authority newspaper and local websites to help maximise awareness.
On another level, we have worked extensively to inform and educate those working in the community on behalf of the council, NHS and charitable organisations to recognise those at risk and put them in touch with the helpline. By training this army of intermediaries, we were able to vastly extend the reach of the initiative.
What difference did we make?
Following the success of the scheme in its first year, SE2 has continued to work with the NHS in Kensington and Chelsea. Over the last two years we have trained around 100 people to promote the Healthy Homes initiative, which has directly helped over 200 residents. Significantly, our work has helped to cement strong links between the council, NHS Trust and the charitable sector, creating a united front to tackle the issues of fuel poverty and winter warmth.
With plans in place to merge Kensington and Chelsea’s local services with the neighbouring boroughs of Westminster and Hammersmith and Fulham, the councils are now looking at how this successful model could be applied across all three boroughs.
In Kensington and Chelsea itself, we are currently working towards the launch of the Winter Fuel Payment Redistribution Scheme, which will allow residents who don’t need help with their bills to donate their allowance to pay for heating and insulation improvements in the homes of those in need.