Charities are being urged to apply for the next funding round of Ofgem’s Energy Redress Scheme, which is funded by voluntary contributions from rule breaking energy firms.

A total of £20m is being made available to charities and other organisations that help support communities with their energy use, including community interest companies and community benefit societies.

This includes projects that help people struggling to pay their bills, and those creating innovative services and technology to support older people and those with disabilities.

The deadline for applications for those supporting communities in England, Wales and Scotland for the scheme, which is managed by the Energy Saving Trust, is 5pm, 2 March.

The funding streams available include a main fund offering £12.5m to projects supporting households in vulnerable situations.

Another is an Innovation Fund, worth £3 million and aimed at projects that will develop innovative products or services to benefit households. Applicants can apply for grants between £20,000 and £1 million for this funding stream.

“We’re pleased to open this latest funding round to support voluntary sector organisations helping households save energy, reduce costs and stay warm,” said Graham Ayling, senior project manager for the Energy Redress Scheme at Energy Saving Trust.

“We’ve seen the impact these projects have and encourage organisations to apply.”

Cathryn Scott, regulatory director at Ofgem, added: “We've seen hundreds of brilliant projects so far, and more than £150 million committed in grants because of the Energy Redress Scheme.

“It’s fantastic to see the scheme offering another £20million worth of funding - a direct result of Ofgem’s compliance and enforcement work.”

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