Sheffield co‑op fits curtains and draught excluders to help households cut fuel bills
Upper Don Community Energy has helped more than 60 households since September 2023 and plans to assist up to 50 more with free insulation and energy-saving measures
A Sheffield community co-operative has helped more than 60 households reduce heating costs with simple, low-cost measures and now has funding to help up to 50 more homes as winter approaches.
Upper Don Community Energy (UDCE), which began the project in September 2023, provides and fits free door curtains, draught excluders, LED bulbs, hot water pipe lagging and radiator heat reflectors for eligible households in the Upper Don area. The work targets people in fuel poverty living in S35 and S36 postcodes and is delivered through referrals from GPs, foodbanks and local agencies.
Funding for the project has come from multiple local sources, including Sheffield City Council, the South Yorkshire Community Foundation and the Northern Powergrid Foundation, organisers said. Volunteers meet monthly to sew thick curtains and fill draught excluders, while local handymen have donated time to fit items in clients' homes.
Catherine Cotterill, a director of UDCE, said the group discovered that "lots of little measures in the home would make a big difference to people." She said the co-operative had been approached by Stocksbridge Town Council after rising energy prices following the war in Ukraine raised concerns about growing numbers of households slipping into fuel poverty.
Among those helped was 68-year-old Helen Lowe, who lives in a ground-floor flat in Stocksbridge and said her home had long been "cold and draughty." After initial reluctance to accept external help, she agreed to have a thick curtain fitted across a draughty front door and lagging put on kitchen pipes. "When it was put in, the hall suddenly felt totally different," Lowe said.
Another beneficiary, Natalya Odnorozhenko, a Ukrainian national living with her daughter and elderly mother in Stocksbridge, said the measures "made a huge difference especially for my mother who feels the cold so much." UDCE volunteers fitted a fabric draught excluder and other items at no charge.
Charities and campaigners define fuel poverty as spending more than 10% of household income on energy. National Energy Action estimates 6.1 million UK households are in fuel poverty; it says 13% of UK households are affected overall and that the rate rises to 17.5% in Yorkshire and the Humber.
The co-operative said eligibility for help includes households on means-tested benefits such as universal credit and child tax credit, and that outreach has focused on areas including Chapeltown, High Green, Oughtibridge and Deepcar. UDCE co-ordinators said the programme is intended as a rapid, low-cost intervention to improve comfort and reduce bills while longer-term energy-efficiency solutions are sought.
UDCE organisers said the project relies on community fundraising and volunteer time and they are appealing for referrals and support to reach more households before colder weather increases demand. "We are committed to helping more families as the weather grows colder," Cotterill said, urging neighbours, charities and health professionals to spread the word about the scheme.