Kim Kimberlee-Smith has joined our Cold to Cosy Homes team to help coordinate an expansion across more districts of Cumbria and to provide the service itself. She’ll be developing partnerships across the county and introducing the scheme to new people.

Rick Squires, also new to our Cold to Cosy Homes team, will likewise be helping to broaden the scheme to help 4000 Cumbrian households over two to three years. He’ll be recruiting new energy champions and providing home energy advice calls and visits.

Jo Gibbs is our new project support officer and will be helping us deliver our wide range of projects along with a whole host of tasks that keep the CAfS ship sailing smoothly - supporting events, assisting customers, and managing our phone and email enquiries, to name a few.

We had a really good response to our call for firms to develop a new carbon footprinting tool for us. We have shortlisted some excellent companies and have invited them to tender for the contract. We hope to appoint the successful firm in September. The bespoke tool is being made for businesses and residents in Cumbria, and we plan to pilot it in Ambleside.

In association with Charge My Street, CAfS hosted a webinar delving into the public chargepoint network for electric vehicles in the North West. 120 people attended the online event at the end of June, and the speakers wish to give a huge thank you to all attendees, who remained engaged throughout the two hours, asking questions and participating in a lively chat. We discussed topics like EV driving, the Charge My Street model for community chargepoints and the installation process. It was an enormous success and we can’t wait to host similar events in the near future. Watch the recording of the webinar >>

Our new expanded Cold to Cosy Homes service will be available from early September. With new funding from the Energy Redress Scheme, we will be able to offer energy advice more widely across Cumbria and especially now to Allerdale, Carlisle and Copeland.

All our Cold to Cosy Homes advice is by telephone initially. We hope to be able to offer households a follow-up home visit soon – when required and if it is safe.

The expansion to our scheme means we’ll be able to help over 1000 households that meet income, health, disability or other vulnerability criteria. Check if you, a friend or a relative could be eligible and reserve a place >> 

Those who aren't eligible for our free service can still receive energy-saving advice from us. Please email [email protected] for details.