We’ve partnered up with Plymouth City Council to launch our Future Fit programme which has one key aim - to help our local community stay warm and save money by upgrading their homes.

We know that with rising energy prices and inflation, our bills are getting much harder to manage. We don’t want you to have to choose between keeping your heating on or other important things.

We’re a charity and a social enterprise that want to make a better future for our local community, and the planet. So, by helping you have warmer homes and lower your heating costs, we’re also reducing greenhouse gas emissions and working towards stopping climate change.

The great news is there are loads of ways we can help improve your home!

It all depends on what your own home needs, and what eligibility criteria you meet, some of the improvements we may be able to make are:

• Insulate your walls

• Insulate your floors, lofts and attic rooms

• Rid your home of draughts

• Give you better control of your heating

• Install solar panels

• Replace your electric heating system

But just so you know, it’s not actually the PEC team rolling up our sleeves and coming to fix up your house. We will work closely with our trusted contractors in the city on your behalf to find the best company to improve your home.

Grants come and go and eligibility criteria are also subject to changes, so our commitment to you is to provide the best advice and support at any given time.

The great news is, under the current government funding programme, if you own your own home you will not have to pay anything towards the costs for the measures identified as providing the best EPC improvement.

How amazing is that?

If you’re a landlord, you will have to contribute a small amount of the costs, but with the new legislation coming in that means all rental properties need to be rated C or above by 2025, this is an amazing opportunity to achieve this, at a fraction of the cost. Plus, warmer and healthier tenants are happier tenants.

If you’re in privately rented accommodation and meet eligibility criteria, you will need to ask your landlord to apply. But we can give you some top tips on how to approach this subject.

We know life can be busy and you don’t want to spend hours on the phone to find out if you’re eligible for this funding. That’s why we’ve created a handy funding eligibility checker - so with just a few clicks, you can discover what improvements in your home can be funded.

• This funding has come from the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy’s Sustainable Warmth Fund

• We will also assess your eligibility for the Energy Company Obligation funding scheme. We don’t deliver this but if eligible we can inform you when schemes are using this funding to deliver the improvements you want (we will ask you if you want us to contact you).

• If you’re awarded funding, we won’t be the people actually making your home improvements - but we will refer to the right people for the job.

• We’re not here to make money, we want to save the planet and help Plymouth residents stay safe and warm.

• If you go on to benefit from the Future Fit funding, you will receive a grant from Plymouth City Council which will be paid directly to the installer for the works they complete.

Want to find out more? Our advisors will be offering drop in events across the city. Visit our events page to see where and when.