Rights to Warmth

Rights to Warmth is a joint initiative with Age Concern - Help the Aged to increase people's understanding of the importance of staying warm to their fundamental health and independence.

Some people do not heat themselves properly through low income and having to choose between heating and eating. Rights to Warmth promotes the many ways people can get the financial help they need to stay warm and make their homes energy efficient.

But very many people just think that energy is too expensive anyway and although being cold is uncomfortable, it does not have any lasting impact. They are wrong. They are undermining their own health and cause major health emergencies that will take them to hospital.

Keeping heating up at a safe level is vital. Turning down the heat to reduce energy bills can damage health severely, particularly among elderly and vulnerable people.
Energy efficiency grants for home improvements can have a significant impact on energy costs and ensure that people can heat their homes economically.
Identifying the electricity and gas tariffs that best suit the circumstances of each household will help ensure that people look after themselves.
Substantial financial entitlements are available to help older and vulnerable people to afford both their energy bills and stay active and healthy.

Many Households Do Not Use Adequate Energy for Heating and Cooking

Cold can lead to progressive health failure for vulnerable people, including older people, small children, those with long term conditions such as heart and respiratory disorders, and those with limited mobility who spend a lot of time sitting in one place. This has a profound impact on the lives of those affected. It also places a major and wholly avoidable burden on health services.

Changing Attitudes Towards Cold - The Survey

Rights to Warmth has carried out a major survey of older people in County Durham to find out about their attitudes and behaviour towards keeping warm. This showed that:
- A quarter of older people felt cold most of the time in the previous winter
- 35% of older people turned their heating down or off, or failed to use heating appliances, when it was cold in order to save money
- Older people are more likely to take up energy support and efficiency measures if they are promoted by GP's and encouraged in the community.

Download the executive summary, the full report or the press release.

The Impact on Health Services and Implications for Energy Poverty Programmes

The cold triggers a health crisis for thousands each year, producing a great deal of personal misery, and is presenting the NHS with a major and unnecessary drain on resources. On the basis of scaling up a range of smaller studies the evidence suggests that cold is a significant contributor to up to 400,000 emergency admissions to hospital (including falls, bronchial conditions, strokes and heart attacks) each year. This is in addition to the 40,000+ excess winter deaths that are predicted for this year. The issue dwarfs road deaths and injuries. Both Energy Poverty and Health programmes need urgent review to focus on the real need, to enable people to use adequate heating to stay warm and healthy, and to do so efficiently to reduce carbon.

Download the policy briefing.

The Pilot Programme

Rights to Warmth has carried out a social marketing programme in County Durham, aimed at older people, including: - Organising focus groups to find out what older people know about the impact of cold on health, the extent to which they find it difficult to keep warm, and how they like to be approached about such issues. - Leading 'pub quiz' discussions with community groups about the importance of keeping warm - Enlisting local shops, post offices, supermarkets, to give leaflets to guide older people to the help that is available.

A Complementary Approach

Rights to Warmth complements the programmes run by local authorities to promote energy efficiency and is specifically targeted on reaching, and building the trust of, hard-to-reach households by providing independent information, advice and support.