ImpactReport
2024-2025
TheFootprintTrust
Granary Court, 128 Pyle Street, Newport, Isle of Wight PO30 1JW
info@footprint-trust.co.uk www.footprint-trust.co.uk
Reg Charity no. 1106024
Reg Company no.04587815
2024-25
2024-25 has been a busy one for the Footprint Trust. We have built on our delivery to assist
hundreds of island households by phone, home visits and face to face support at community
events. We have a new manager, Laura Stichbury, and have expanded our project delivery to
include new projects and an increase in energy talks and frontline training for local
organisations. Our team have attended the National Energy Action conference to benchmark
delivery against best practice and share expertise. We have widened our energy knowledge with
a range of training and have been pleased to welcome a new volunteer. We have deepened our
connections with the local community by providing a weekly outreach session at Newport
library and regular outreach at other destinations across the island. We have worked closely
with partner organisations to integrate support and deliver a holistic service with groups such
as: Barnardos, Homestart, NHS partners, Pan Together, Veteran’s Outreach, Foodbank,
Citizen’s Advice and Living Well Early Help.
We have identified energy savings for IOW residents of over £800,000.
That’s 3.5 million kilowatt hours of energy, nearly 700 tonnes of carbon!
Introduction
The Footprint Trust is a registered charity focused on
reducing the Isle of Wight’s carbon footprint.
Founded in 2002, we provide support and guidance for
sustainable living, particularly for households
struggling with fuel poverty. The Trust works to
improve energy efficiency, tackle condensation, and
help identify sources of heat loss. Our expert team
provides personalised guidance to promote home
energy efficiency and help thousands of islanders save
money on bills and live warm and well.
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Values:
Integrity - Compassion - Respect
TheFootprintTrust
RegCharityNo.1106024
Who do we help?
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Breakdown of Profiles of Families
Helped
Children in the home, long term health condition, Benefits
48%
Children in the home, Benefits
35%
Children in the home
9%
Children in the home, Long term health condition
2%
Children in the home, Young householder, Benefits
5%
Children in the home, Over 60, Benefits
1%
Support
Personalised Guidance helps people to:
Reduce water, energy and fuel bills
Find energy efficient ways to cook and wash
Tackle condensation
Identify sources of heat loss
Guidance for energy efficient grants
Access additional support such as energy vouchers
Support in billing disputes
Overcome cold and damp
Improve a home’s EPC rating
Understand and maximise heating systems
TheFootprintTrust
RegCharityNo.1106024
TheFootprintTrust
RegCharityNo.1106024
TheTeam
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The positive impacts achieved by the Footprint Trust are thanks to the
dedication and hard work of our committed team. This year, Laura
Stichbury returned to the Trust and was officially appointed as
Manager, leading our dedicated team of five. Each member is fully
trained to deliver in-depth domestic energy guidance, having achieved
the National Energy Action Energy Awareness Level 3 Award alongside
Footprint Trust training. Senior Energy Guide Steve Howes has
continued to expand and share expertise on complex energy issues.
Communications and Project Delivery Lead, Petra Saunders, has
successfully promoted the Trust and developed projects like our Air
Fryer Low Energy Cooking Demonstrations. Bethan Curtis has worked
brilliantly with our local suppliers to deliver a broad range of tangible
help and support and Marzena Turner has provided invaluable
assistance to us over our busier periods with her knowledge and
dedication.
Aimsand
Achievements:
IslandWideEnergyGuidance
Our specially trained team
gave bespoke information
to over 700 households by
phone
Phone Support
Our Energy Team
delivered over 100
Energy Action Plans
face to face at events.
Outreach
Home Visits
We provided over 80 in depth visits
to peoples homes to assist in
maximising heating within the
home and reducing energy bills
with personalised information and
support.
Thanks to funding from:
DWP Household Support
Fund, Warm Island
Home Energy Help-
Energy Redress, Fighting
Fuel Poverty: IOW
National Lottery and the
Postcode Society Trust.
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TheFootprintTrust
RegCharityNo.1106024
The Footprint Trust spent £70,000 on measures for
people in fuel poverty. This included energy efficient
white goods, emergency heating, energy vouchers and
low cost cooking appliances, low cost clothes drying
solutions and measures to reduce heat loss in the home
and damp. Thanks to grants from HWICF, The Daisy
Rich Trust and the Household Support Fund
Measures
Frontline Worker Training
In addition to our long running successful partnerships with Ryde,
Newport & Carisbrooke and Ventnor Town Council, we started new
partnerships with Wootton, East Cowes and Cowes. Our Energy
Team attend outreach in these locations, which lead to follow ups
for supporting residents.
Warmer Town and Parish Councils
We work with SSEN to target support to vulnerable
households across the Island. We signposted 350 households
to the Priority Services Register, which offers free help to
people who may be at more risk in the case of a gas, electricity
or water outage and who may need adaptions to their billing.
We reached a great deal of these through outreach and talks
highlighting the benefits of joining the scheme.
Supporting Vulnerable Households
We worked with Ridge Clean Energy to recruit Heat Helpmate
Volunteers. Although several people applied, we found one excellent
volunteer who has enjoyed spending his time joining our home visits
to provide help and guidance in the home, saving energy and water.
Heat Helpmates
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Footprint Trust teamed up with local housing associations, Southern
Housing and Vectis Housing, to deliver several air fryer
demonstrations. In addition to learning practical ways to use their air
fryer, attendees also found out about how to cut their utility bills in a
handy energy session.
Air Fryer & Low Cost Cooking
Winter is Coming
Our annual winter preparedness event brought together over 15
help agencies from health to food charities and energy support.
The event helped our community build resilience for winter and
tackle the impact of low incomes. 142 people attended this year’s
event, making a huge increase on the previous year. The event has
sponsorship from Holiday Cottages who were impressed by the
work carried out by the Trust.
We were involved with the Citizen’s Advice national
project to reach people struggling with winter bills.
Although this was a short project, we made a big impact in
making initial contact with 100's of homes. We were able to
refer participants to our other energy projects for further
assistance.
Energy Outreach Project
TheFootprintTrust
RegCharityNo.1106024
Are you better able to use your
heating system?
56 Responses
Yes
68.1%
Not Discussed
28%
No
3.9%
Feedback&
Casestudies
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Petra,
Thank you for coming to our
group last week. Lots of
interesting advice and good
food. Afterwards there were
lots of conversations with
members ‘ individual tips.
Best Wishes
Nellies Club
May 2025
Feedback
100% of people asked
said that the
Footprint Trust
helped them to save
money by cooking
or washing in a
cheaper way.
TheFootprintTrust
RegCharityNo.1106024
Feedback
100% of people asked said that they felt better
about managing their energy bills
What other information did the Footprint
Trust provide?
56 responses
People
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50
Measures-tangible or financial
Low cost cooking
Grants e.g Solar, insulation
Washing or drying clothes
Water reduction
Understanding bills
Further help: Priority Service
Damp / Condensation
Heating System
General Energy Guidance
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“Wow thank you so much. I
didn’t expect this at all this
evening. I’m very very
appreciative for this. Also
thank you for taking your
time to talk with me this
evening. I felt listened to.
So thank you very much for
all your help”
Feedback from in depth Phone Visit to
elderly gentleman on PIP with faulty
insulation causing damp and mould:
"You have been so helpful and
knowledgeable, I did not know where to
start and I now have some really good
options to work with. I cannot thank you
enough. Your service is amazing, but it
should be actively supported by other
agencies, so that you can help us, the
public, more easily. I am truly grateful to
know you are there, thank you".
TheFootprintTrust
RegCharityNo.1106024
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Charlene* has children and is the only
person working in her household of 5
people. She has significant debts and
despite being in work, cannot afford to
feed her family, whilst paying bills and
servicing debt. We helped Charlene
identify cost savings and made
improvements to her comfort in the
following ways: top up voucher, debt
help, condensation & mould reduction,
washing & drying clothes with low
energy use, low energy cooking.
"Thank you, I can have heating at
Christmas, I am going to cry".
"It (home visit) has been incredibly
useful, this has given me the inner
confidence to deal with my heating
and I know that if I think of anything
else I can contact you."
Sam* is a Father of 2 on low income, unable to
top up energy prepayment meters and just a
few pounds left on the meter. He was provided
with an energy voucher. He was given guidance
on zoning home to prioritise heating.
"Hi was lovely talking to you earlier and I'm definitely going
to try the thing with bedrooms you explained. Makes
sense…. Have also spoken with energy company who again
aren't prepared to help. The guy was useless.
Really hoping we can get this help asap"
"That is such a big help. I don't know if you know how much
you're helping people. You probably help other people"
Tina* was seen at the Foodbank, they are currently on
a very low income as her seasonal job has finished,
she has no other work and she is waiting to find out
about UC. Her husband works but all his money goes
on rent. She only puts the heating on for 1/2hr a day,
due to cost worries and has damp and condensation
in the house. They have no savings to be able to
support putting the heating on for longer. She is in
arrears because she needed to spread the rest of her
money to make it go further, her priority has been to
pay for gas.
"That was really helpful and I'll do that thing with the
windows when I get home" (At the end of our discussion
about energy-saving changes, damp and condensation.)
Diana* has fled domestic abuse and has
managed to now be housed but they are
starting from nothing. She has requested
help with a washing machine. Her child
has additional needs, meaning she gets
through wash loads very quickly. Client
was tearful on the phone when told her
application for the washing machine had
been approved.
"We've had a really tough time. I can't believe
all the help we've received."
TheFootprintTrust
RegCharityNo.1106024
OurFunders
TheFootprintTrust
RegCharityNo.1106024
We are grateful for the support from our funders
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