In one of his first actions as Scotland’s new First Minister, Humza Yousaf has pledged to triple the fund from the start of last year to provide further support for vulnerable households struggling with their energy bills.
The investment will enable third sector organisations to continue to provide support to households who are at risk of self-disconnection or self-rationing their energy use.
Fuel Bank Foundation, which provides emergency fuel vouchers to people who can’t afford to top-up their prepayment meter, as well as helping households that are off grid and rely on solid fuels such as heating oil, has previously received funding from the Fuel Insecurity Fund to finance its operations in Scotland.
Since the launch of its first Fuel Bank Centre in 2016 in Glasgow South East, the charity now runs 135 centres across the country. In the last 12 months, Fuel Bank Foundation has helped more than 115,000 people in Scotland, 38 per cent of which were children.