Nest Newsletter – Winter 2021 edition

Latest news: Annual Report and Valued Partner Award

Welcome to the Winter edition of the Nest Partner Newsletter

In this edition, we’ll be talking more about our recently published Annual Report for 2020-21.

Despite the challenges posed by the pandemic, Nest was still able to help people across Wales make their homes warm and keep them comfortable all year round. The Annual Report looks back at what was achieved during a difficult year, as well as the important role played by partnerships and how you help Nest reach the most vulnerable homes in Wales.

The full Report can be accessed here in English or Welsh, but you can get a quick overview by scrolling down.

Thanks again for all your support. We greatly appreciate it and look forward to continuing to work with you in 2022!

Team Nest

Despite the challenges posed by the pandemic, the Nest scheme adapted to an ever-changing situation to install energy saving improvements to over 4,500 homes across Wales, as well as provide free impartial energy saving advice to over 15,500 homes.

In 2020-21, the Nest scheme’s main achievements were:

• 15,557 households received free and impartial energy saving advice; of which
• 4,559 households received a home energy improvement package, with a modelled average energy bill saving of £305 per year.
• Benefit entitlement checks resulted in a household average £2,091 potential increase in benefit take-up.
• 100% of installations were completed by Wales-based installers, with 23 apprentices working on the Nest scheme.

The Nest scheme’s advice service remained open throughout the year, while installations moved to an emergency-only operation during the first lockdown in April-June 2020. During this period, the scheme prioritised vulnerable customers with no heat or hot water, or any risk of life.

We were also fortunate enough to have a Nest customer provide a video testimonial for the service they received. Mrs Keogh, from Pontypridd, received support from the Nest scheme.

She had an old boiler that took a long time before it could heat water for radiators or a bath. When the weather was cold, Mrs Keogh would come home and go straight to bed because the boiler took so long to heat up.

The Nest scheme was able to support Mrs Keogh by installing a new boiler for free, helping them reduce their energy bills by a third and make their home warm without worrying about the old boiler or how much it cost.

We’re delighted to announce that Nest has won a Careers Wales Valued Partner Award, recognising our work supporting young people to prepare for their future careers.

Nest was awarded ‘Best Ongoing Relationship with a School’ for our work with Ysgol Clywedog in Wrexham over the last four years. We’re proud to have supported the teachers and learners by providing a better understanding of what it means to join the world of work.

During the pandemic, our Community Engagement Manager Michelle Symonds delivered online sessions to Year 10 and 11 students to help them achieve their Agored Cymu Customer Service qualifications.

Michelle was on hand to accept the award from renowned presenter, Sara Edwards. You can catch-up with the whole award ceremony here.

The role partners play in helping Nest reach those in need of support remains a vital part of the scheme. Our Partnership Development Managers, Peter Hughes and Dylan Mclellan have continued to build relationships with local authorities, third sector organisations and more to ensure we reach homes across Wales who can benefit from the Nest scheme.

In a world of online meetings, Pete and Dylan have continued their hard work in raising awareness of Nest and providing training on how to use the Partner Portal to refer potential customers through to our advice team.

In another difficult year for everyone, we’re proud to have continued supporting people in fuel poverty in making their homes comfortable all year around. We remain grateful to our partners in helping us reach those most vulnerable: thank you all for your great efforts this year and we look forward to continuing to work with you in 2022.

As always, if you have any questions or would like to find more about Nest, please feel free to contact your local Partnership Development Manager.