As the winter months approach, Hammersmith and Fulham Citizens Advice Bureau is helping people on low incomes find out how to cope with rising energy bills.
The Fulham advice centre is running its Energy Best Deal initiative until March next year, which encourages people to switch energy providers if it can save them money.
It comes as this week British Gas and Npower announce that they will hike gas and electric bills by around 10 per cent.
H&F CAB also offers advice to people in surrounding boroughs including Ealing where there is no citizens advice bureau as well as Kensington and Chelsea and Westminster whose CABs do not have dedicated financial advisors.
Clarissa Stoneham, financial inclusion manager, said: “We want people to realise there are things they can do to protect themselves from rising energy costs. Obviously people can’t avoid the costs, but we can help with how to cope with that.
“The definition of fuel poverty is anyone who spends over 10 per cent of their wages on fuel bills. Some people don’t think they are in fuel poverty.”
The advice group, which is based at Avonmore Library and Neighbourhood Centre and supported by Hammersmith and Fulham Council, also offers free training sessions aimed at community centres to help pass energy efficiency information onto the wider community.
It took to Twitter this week in a national initiative called CABLive to promote its services. It is tweeting about a different service each day: financial capability, library services, advice and information, volunteering and campaign work.
To find out more, visit www.hfcab.org.uk . Follow them on Twitter @HFCABservice .
