Safe and Warm with Sue Ryder

SGN manages the gas network in the south of England, including south London.

The area stretches from Milton Keynes (Buckinghamshire) in the north to Dover (Kent) in the east and Lyme Regis (Dorset) in the west.

Through the Safe and Warm partnership, we want to help people who may be struggling to stay safe and warm during life’s most difficult moments. This closely aligns to our vision and strategic goals.

As part of the initiative, staff and volunteers in the area served by SGN are signposting people to advice and information to help them maintain a safe and warm home.

This includes:

• reducing bills
• managing debt
• raising awareness about carbon monoxide (CO) safety and providing free CO alarms
• promoting the Priority Services Register (PSR).

Lots of advice and information is being shared through our Safe and warm hub. We are also distributing guides and leaflets to help patients, families, customers, volunteers and supporters in the SGN area.

We believe that energy costs should be the last thing on someone’s mind when they are dying or grieving, and according to our own research, 81% of people receiving end-of-life care have been unable to run essential medical equipment due to high energy costs.

Through this partnership, we are helping people by providing them with advice, information and tools to maintain a safe and warm home.

If you’re a volunteer in the SGN area, below you can find some resources to help you provide information and support in your community:

• Safe and Warm information hub – Our online hub where you can find information, support and helpful tips for staying safe and warm.
• Priority Services Register (PSR) – The PSR supports people with additional needs during power cuts and loss of gas supplies. Here you can find out more about the PSR, including who can sign up and how to register.
• Managing your energy bills – Here you can find useful information to support anyone struggling to pay their energy bills after a bereavement or energy bill support for those living with a terminal illness.
• Keeping safe and warm with a terminal illness – Find information to help you support terminally ill people with guidance on things like reducing heating bills, keeping their home safe and paying their energy bills.
• Order a carbon monoxide alarm – Some volunteers within our Grief Kind Spaces have been raising awareness of carbon monoxide (CO) safety. You can order a carbon monoxide alarm for someone in the community that you're supporting within the SGN footprint. Once you've completed the order form, our Safe and Warm co-ordinator will arrange for an alarm to be sent to the recipient.
• Volunteer Safe & Warm reporting form – Please use this form to record your volunteer Safe and Warm activity.

There is currently Retail volunteer training for our SGN partnership – Safe and Warm with Sue Ryder.

Grief Kind Spaces volunteer training will be added in the coming weeks, so please check back for further updates here.

We appreciate that while this is an amazing opportunity to share vital information with our service users, it can be daunting and overwhelming trying to incorporate into your usual workload.

We are here to help.

If you have questions, need additional or alternative training, want a one-to-one session with our Programme Coordinator, or have suggestions to improve the process and reporting, please email our Safe and Warm team at safeandwarm@sueryder.org

Thank you for your support in providing this vital information to our service users.