Warm safe and well: the evaluation of the Warm at Home Programme

This report presents the findings from an evaluation of the Foundations Independent Living Trust Ltd (FILT) SSE Warm at Home (WAH) Programme.Funding for the WAH Programme came via a financial penalty (or redress payment) imposed by the energy regulator Ofgem on the energy company SSE. With the funding FILT managed the WAH grants programme, which provided funds to enable the homes of vulnerable householders to become more energy efficient and/or easier to keep warm. The evaluation was commissioned by FILT and its main aim was to assess WAH in terms of the impacts on health and wellbeing of householders in receipt of the Programme. The research was conducted between April 2015 and June 2016 and adopted a mixed methods approach to measure the impact of the FILT SSE WAH Programme. It found that the Warm at Home programme alleviated stress and had a positive impact on people’s quality of life and wellbeing, their feelings of safety and security and their control of the home environment. Smaller practical improvements often made a big difference to daily lives, which enhanced wellbeing and independence. Benefits were sizeable when compared to the average cost of the intervention, which was £241. For every £1 of funding through the Warm at Home programme, an additional minimum £2.42 was levered in from other sources.