Safe and Warm Grassroot Communities Scheme July 2026-27

Safe and Warm Grassroots Communities Scheme application form - 2026 to 2027
Introduction
This is the application form for the Safe and Warm Grassroot Communities scheme. The scheme is managed by the Centre for Sustainable Energy on behalf of three Gas Distribution Networks: SGN, Northern Gas Networks and Wales and West Utilities.

Please read through the information for applicants document before completing this application form, available on the CSE website. Two Information for Applicants webinars will take place, one on Thursday 16th July, 1-2pm, and one one on Wednesday 29th July, 1-2pm. The sessions will have the same content, and you can register for session one here and session two here.

This form has a save and continue later feature so you don't need to complete it in one go.

If you have any questions about the scheme or this form, please contact safeandwarmcommunities@cse.org.uk

The application deadline is Monday 10th August at 11am.

Basic eligibility
As part of the application process, the Centre for Sustainable Energy (CSE) will collect contact details for the key people from your organisation involved in submitting this application so we can get in touch about the outcome of your application. If you are successful we will use your details to support and liaise with you as your project progresses.

Your data will be stored in accordance with GDPR regulations and we’ll keep your data for two years from the application deadline. We will not ask you to share personal details relating to any of your customers or service users.

If you are successful, we will then keep your data for five years after you complete the project.

If you want to find out more about how we use and store your data, please see our privacy policy.
GDPR consent
Is your organisation legally incorporated?

About your organisation
What is your organisation's legally registered name?
What is your organisation's registered address?
Tell us what type of organisation you are (e.g. CIC/society) and whether you are a registered charity.
What is your organisation's registered number?
When was your organisation formed?
What is the aim of your organisation?
How many employees (if any) do you have? Are they full or part time?

Bank account
If successful, we will need you to provide details of a bank account which meets the following criteria:
- Is in the name of the organisation applying for funding (not a personal account)
- Requires at least two signatures from unrelated people to make a withdrawal
- You are able to provide a statement or paying-in slip showing the account name and account details
This is for CSE's internal checks when issuing grant payments. We will release grant payments when the conditions have been met and will not require successful organisations to raise invoices for their grant payment.
Please confirm you can meet these criteria

Contact details
Main contact

This will be the person we contact about the outcome of the application. The email address provided for this contact will receive a copy of your application form once it is submitted.
Name
Role
Email address
Phone number
Secondary contact

This should be a director or trustee, with the authority to sign a grant agreement on behalf of the applicant organisation. We will also inform them if your application is successful.

Your final project report also needs to be signed off by this person so that we have assurance that your project will be delivered as planned and that reporting is accurate.
Name
Role
Email address
Phone number

Geographic eligibility
Please confirm your project is located within one of the three Gas Distribution Network's areas (SGN, WWU, NGN) network area.

You can check this using the 'Find my GDN' website.
Please confirm which Gas Distribution Network(s) you operate within:
Please tell us the postcode area/s your project will operate in

About your project
Please briefly summarise the purpose of your project e.g. "We plan to...... in order to......." (250 words maximum)

0/250
Which of the following types of support will you deliver as part of your project? (select all that apply)

Other
Please tell us about the audience(s) you would support with this project. This should include telling us how you would reach them, why you are best placed to do this, and any views on particular energy advice needs of this audience(s).
Please tell us what your planned timeline would be if you were successful in receiving funding. This includes explaining any set up activities you will need to undertake (and the timeframe for this). Set up activities include for example recruitment and training of staff/volunteers. Please refer to the application pack for detail on project timeframes.

Project outcomes
What is the total number of households you intend to support through this project? e.g. support that is tailored to a household's needs (not the total number of leaflets you plan to print/newsletters to send out in order to engage them). You will need to enter this in numeric format e.g. 250

Please provide a breakdown of the number of households you will support, against each of the target outcomes on the left column. We expect you to have a target for outcomes with an asterisk* which is realistic for your organisation. You may also support households with the other outcomes listed in the table. Please read the definitions of what activities contribute to each outcome in the application pack before completing this table.

Rows	Number of households supported through the project (through direct advice provision & referrals to other services)
Energy triage (total households reached)*
Energy behaviour change*
Carbon Monoxide safety information and alarm provision*
Priority Services Register conversations*
Welfare benefits - income maximisation
Debt management - income maximisation
Energy funding - income maximisation
Grant applications - income maximisation
Tariff switching - income maximisation
Fuel voucher provision
Keep Warm Packs
Small energy efficiency measures
Digital skills support
Wellbeing support
Fire and Rescue Service (FRS) Safe and Well Visit referals
Locking Cooker Valve referrals
Other ways in which you will support the community (please tell us more in the box below)

If you are planning on supporting households to access fuel vouchers, please tell us how you plan to do this.
How many referrals do you expect to make and which organisations will you refer people to? (if applicable)
Will you be providing support to clients in any other way, not listed above?
If you also plan to provide frontline worker training to other organisations, please tell us how many people you expect to train and who they are (e.g. type of organisation).
Do you currently host a 'Warm Space', or plan to become one? This is a community space people can access for free to stay warm in winter.
Please note that the number you have put for each outcome will form the basis of your grant agreement. Delivery of them will contribute to fulfilling the funding requirements and therefore receiving your funding payments. Please make sure that your targets are realistic.

Organisational capacity
Tell us about your organisational capacity to deliver this project. Who will be involved and what experience and time can they offer?
Please let us know if you will be recruiting new staff or volunteers to deliver this project, and what your timeframe is for training them if this is required?

Project budget
What is the total cost of your project, including match funding (if applicable)? Please provide details of any match funding – who is it from and whether it is already secured.
How much funding are you applying for from the scheme? You will need to enter this in numeric format e.g. 14,000
Please look at the guidance for applicants document for more information about this.
Please provide a brief budget break down (e.g. key activities and associated costs). Make sure you factor in time for reporting, management and overheads.

Cost to deliver
Based on the amount of funding you are applying for and the number of households you intend to support, the number below shows your total spend per household in £. This is an auto-calculation based on the numbers you've provided in this form.
We expect the average cost per household interaction to be around £78 per household. If your average cost per household is higher or lower than this average, please describe why.

Reporting
How will you record customer interactions and provide high level data* in monthly reporting to CSE? (Please refer to the guidance document for more information on this).
*"High level data" means aggregated data. We will not ask you to provide individual customer data although you may be required to provide anonymous detailed customer records so CSE can audit your internal record keeping as part of due diligence checks for project reporting.

Safe and Warm Grassroots Communities Scheme application form - 2026 to 2027

Introduction

Basic eligibility

About your organisation

Bank account

Contact details

Geographic eligibility

About your project

Project outcomes

Organisational capacity

Project budget

Cost to deliver

Reporting

Additional information

Final project declaration