Since 2000, Warm Zones have developed a proven and cost-effective way to deliver help to households who are struggling to keep warm or to pay their fuel bills. Newcastle Warm Zone adopted a ward-by-ward programme for the first four years of operation (April 2004 to March 2008), where the following stages were repeated in each ward:

Awareness raising

General and ward-specific marketing, promotion and direct mailing.

Assessment

A five-minute doorstep questionnaire to gather selected information in confidence about the household, to determine if it qualifies for free measures.

Discounted schemes

For households that do not qualify for free measures, discounted schemes will be made available to householders who wish to take advantage of low-cost measures at preferential rates.

Surveying

Surveyors employed by insulation contractors will complete the necessary surveys for each qualifying household to determine what can be installed.

Installation of physical measures

Insulation by Warm Zone selected contractor partners, followed by monitoring and quality control checks carried out by the Warm Zone team.

Delivery of benefits and energy efficiency advice

Warm Zones can provide free energy efficiency advice and a ‘benefits health check’ to see if any additional benefits are available.

From April 2008, the assessment team are retracing their steps across the city, visiting areas where uptake of measures has been low - ensuring that all residents are given the chance to take advantage of the offer.