Feeling cold this winter? REECH out for some help.
(26th November 2002)

At the launch of REECH, 26 November 2002 (left to right): Emmanuel Simons, London Borough of Enfield; Premchand Savla, Barnet Elderly Asians Group; Mark Clare, British Gas; and the Rt Hon Margaret Beckett, Secretary of State, DEFRA.

Elderly Asians, or those who have elderley relatives, who are feeling cold this winter can take advantage of a innovative project to improve energy services to poor and vulnerable members of ethnic communities. Launched today in the presence of the Rt Hon Margaret Beckett, Secretary of State at DEFRA, REECH – Realising Energy Efficient Communities and Homes – is a £300,000, three-year partnership between British Gas and national energy efficiency charity NEA. The project, which has been launched during NEA / British Gas Warm Homes Week, will help members of ethnic minorities overcome the barriers that can prevent them from heating their homes affordably. Work will soon begin with communities in London, Bradford, and Rochdale and Oldham.

Low incomes, poor housing, and poor heating and insulation standards are the root causes of fuel poverty. Many members of ethnic minorities in Britain not only experience these problems, but face special circumstances that may prevent them from getting the help they need. Among these are language barriers and difficulty accessing the assistance available from existing agencies. As a result, the take up of energy advice and energy efficiency improvements is inevitably lower for these communities.

Ethnic minority communities are disproportionately represented in unemployment statistics and in many areas suffer much of the poorest housing. These two factors alone result in a high incidence of fuel poverty. There are almost 7 million fuel poor households in the UK.

In addition, members of ethnic minority communities experience a disproportionate incidence of some respiratory ailments, such as asthma.

Mark Clare, managing director of British Gas, said: "REECH is part of British Gas's continuing efforts to tackle fuel poverty and improve services to ethnic minority households. Our partnership with NEA will provide important support for agencies working with ethnic minority communities to help address fuel poverty. The REECH project complements British Gas’ new 'Here to HELP' programme which will invest £150 million over three years to improve significantly the quality of life of 500,000 of the most deprived households in Britain."

Specific language and cultural difficulties in contacting and communicating with minority communities exacerbate the circumstances that result in fuel poverty.

The term ‘minority ethnic communities’ encompasses a wide and varied range of communities: recently arrived asylum seekers; second or third generation British citizens; Asian communities where home ownership is more common and populations that are heavily reliant on private-rented accommodation; communities whose languages may be written in Urdu, Hindi, and Punjabi languages; the large Sylheti-speaking community which has no written language form, and which is served by Bengali; and communities in which the level of illiteracy suggests that the best way to get information to parents is through the bilingual schoolchildren.

Under REECH, NEA and British Gas will link up with ethnic minority communities via several routes, including

• energy-awareness training for community workers, including bilingual advice workers
• updated and translated energy efficiency promotional material
• establishment of key contacts in local authorities
• a newsletter with promotions, news and ideas for action

Over the years, NEA and British Gas have teamed up on other projects to tackle fuel poverty among ethnic minority communities. In 1992, the charity ran a British Gas-funded investigation into energy efficiency training for minority communities. NEA managed the London Minority Communities' Energy Forum for several years with financial support from British Gas and ran an ambitious project to raise awareness of energy efficiency in minority language communities in ten towns and cities in England, backed by British Gas and the Environmental Action Fund.

NEA / British Gas Warm Homes Week
22 November to 2 December 2002

A campaign to cut winter deaths and reduce cold-related illnesses by alerting people to the dangers of fuel poverty and the availability of energy-saving grants for low-income households. For more information, contact the Warm Homes Week team on 0191 261 5677 or e-mail warmhomesweek@nea.org.uk

Click here to visit the NEA website.

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