East Riding of Yorkshire Council has been successful in securing Government funding for further initiatives to help reduce the health impacts on people who are struggling to keep their homes warm during the cold winter months.

The council has been awarded £46,000, the full amount it bid for under the Department of Health’s Warm Homes Healthy People Fund, and will be using the funding over the next few months in partnership with organisations like the NHS.

Plans include using some of the money for emergency oil funding for up to 30 vulnerable households who cannot afford to buy heat during the winter months. A further 1,000 households are set to benefit from cold weather alarms which will inform people when they need to turn up their heating to maintain a healthy warmth.

The funding will also be used to support the council’s existing Health through Warmth project, leading to an increase in the number of front-line NHS staff able to provide fuel poverty and energy efficiency advice, and it is planned to hold additional events in rural communities to recruit and train energy champions for a project run by the Humber and Wolds Rural Community Council.

Councillor Symon Fraser, portfolio holder for the environment, housing and planning, said: “I am delighted we have been successful in obtaining this funding which can be used immediately to help people in the East Riding.

“Each winter there is a spike in the number of people suffering from cold related illnesses and it is a priority for us to continue to seek out available funding opportunities to try and help them stay healthy in their own home.

“In November, the council confirmed that we would be continuing to invest in measures to make homes in the East Riding more energy efficient despite the reduced amount of national funding now available. These include a discount scheme run in partnership with Npower to provide cavity wall and loft insulation and additional funding to continue our award-winning scheme to install air source heat pumps to properties in rural areas which are off the main gas network.”