Welcome to Beat the Cold and our new website.  Over the course of the next few weeks we will be adding more news and information.  If you have any suggestions on how we can continue to develop and improve our site, please don't hesitate to contact us.

Below is our Events Diary so you can see some of what Beat the Cold is up to.

Expert energy advisers from local charity, Beat the Cold, and supported by Stafford Borough Council, will be in Stafford Library at the Shire Hall on Tuesday 24 February from 10 am to 3 pm.  They will be helping local people to reduce their fuel bills and keep warmer at home.  Towards the end of winter, householders know only too well how much it costs to keep warm at home.

From 1 April 2009, if you need to call a registered gas installer you should look for the ‘Gas Safe Register’ brand.

The Gas Safe Register will replace the registration scheme currently offered by CORGI.  Further details on the Gas Safe Register are available at:  www.gassaferegister.co.uk

CORGI registration in Great Britain and the Isle of Man ends on 31 March 2009.  From 1 April 2009, all gas engineers must be registered with the Gas Safe Register.   The Gas Safe Register will be running a national publicity campaign in the lead-up to 1 April to make sure the public know about the changes.

Local charity, Beat the Cold, welcomes support from E.ON, one of the UK’s leading power and gas companies, that will help hard-pressed households in Stoke and north Staffordshire keep warm and safe. Beat the Cold will be making energy efficient light bulbs, ‘Power Downs’ and carbon monoxide detectors available to vulnerable households.

Beat the Cold is offering two half-day events at The Bridge Centre, Birches Head, to take place Tuesday 24 & Thursday 26 February 9.30am – 12.30pm.  At the end of the briefings, lunch will be provided.

Residents in Waterhouses Parish can benefit from heavily discounted cavity wall and loft insulation by This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it at Beat the Cold.

Warm Up Waterhouses leaflet

More on the Warm Up Moorlands Villages scheme.

Beat the Cold's Peter Lovell and Gavin Webb helping a customer save money at the City Centre's Tontine Square

Beat the Cold will be holding three advice surgeries out in the open air on Wednesday, 14 January; Friday, 16 January; and Wednesday, 21 January between 10am and 3.30pm.  You can't miss us.  Our big red gazebo will be located at Tontine Square, Hanley - outside the Halifax.

If you want to receive expert advice on making your home warmer, reducing your fuel bills and keeping healthier throughout the cold weather, then you can't afford not to speak with one of our advisors.

Over two days before Christmas, more than 200 people called at the gazebo to get advice and pick up their free room thermometer.  Some were surprised to discover that they could save over £200 a year by having their homes insulated or by changing how they paid for their fuel.

If you are interested in what we have to offer, be sure to visit us.  If you can't make it on one of these days then phone us on 0800 389 2258 for advice over the telephone or to arrange a home visit.

UPDATE:

As a result of the Hanley events Beat the Cold advisors advised over three hundred clients.  By far the most common area that we were able to help people with was by advising them of the Social Tariffs that are available.  Most fuel companies provide such tariffs, and they are designed for people on low incomes, or who have a disability or illness, or who are deemed fuel poor, that is, where consumers spend more than 10% of their income on fuel.

If you think you could qualify to sign up for a Social Tariff, and would like some more advice, call Beat the Cold on 0800 389 2258.

Stoke-on-Trent Winter Leaflet

Staffordshire Moorlands Winter Leaflet

Newcastle-under-Lyme Winter Leaflet