Community Group of the Year nominee – Beat The Cold
Community Group of the Year nominee – Beat The Cold
A Stoke-on-Trent-based charity which aims to reduce fuel poverty and cold related ill health is helping to bring down the year-on-year fuel poverty figures within the city.
Beat The Cold has more than two decades of experience in energy advice and support within Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire. The charity is a client-led service committed to helping those who live in, or are at risk of, fuel poverty, or whose health could be detrimentally affected by a cold home.
The charity is pioneering in how it uses health data and is striving not only to make a difference within the county but to be the blueprint for best practice in England. Key to achieving their aims is building relationships, partnerships and collaborating with a variety of stakeholders to best serve those who are referred.
These partnerships include the likes of University Hospital of North Midlands Trust, Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent Integrated Care System, North Staffordshire Combined Healthcare Trust and Midlands Partnership Foundation Trust.
The charity is commissioned by local authorities and works in partnership with health boards across the county to provide a single-point-of-contact health and housing referral service. It was also an expert witness in the development of National Institute for Health Care and Excellence (NICE) Guideline, NG6.
A team of 12 helps Beat The Cold go the extra mile to support every service user, regardless of the complexity of their situation, in an area that has the highest level of fuel poverty in the country.
The charity offers a range of services including home energy assessments, advice on managing energy bills, help with switching suppliers, accessing funding available for heating repairs and replacements, support for accessing grants and funding and providing information on energy saving measures.
Chief Executive Officer, Fiona Miller, said: “Beat the Cold has a long history of delivering significant impact and we are always looking at introducing new and innovative ways of alleviating fuel poverty to reduce health inequalities. By supporting vulnerable and disadvantaged groups, we are contributing to improved health and social outcomes for the area.
“There are wider underlying factors in our city that are being addressed and what we are doing at Beat The Cold is working.
“What we are all about is the people of our city and county. It’s a privilege to work with and for so many amazing people and we are thrilled to get the amazing feedback we do for the work that we do.”
Beat The Cold has been nominated in the Community Group of the Year category of the Your Heroes Awards 2025.