This week is Energy Saving Week, offering Wolves Foundation the chance to shine a light – excuse the pun – on the work being delivered to help people in the community via the Supporting Our Pack campaign.
Energy Saving Week, delivered by the Energy Saving Trust, offers daily tips on helping people to reduce their energy use and save money.
And that forms part of the portfolio of the Foundation’s community connector Garry Leslie, whose work covers a range of areas to provide advice and work with other agencies to support financial wellbeing across the city.
“My role covers anything and everything to do with financial wellbeing,” Garry explains.
“That might be related to the cost of living, people who can’t afford food so we can support with food parcels or vouchers, or people who are struggling with heating bills.
“In terms of energy saving, there are different organisations we can tap into who can provide financial help with reducing bills and advice on how people can keep their homes warm.
“Each of those have different ways to support, from being able to provide loft insulation, wall cavity insulation, energy-saving light bulbs, draft excluders and heat deflectors.
“They can provide advice on mould and condensation and, in certain cases, provide help with debts and setting up payment plans.”
There are also so many other areas connected to financial wellbeing where support is potentially available, including around travel costs, IT equipment and accessing qualifications.
Garry’s work, which also comes under the banner of Building Brighter Futures, the programme funded by the Premier League Community Fund and City of Wolverhampton Council, also involves a lot of one-to-one sessions, as well as extensive visits and networking out and about in the community.
“Without community engagement this sort of work just doesn’t happen,” he continues.
“I always try to go to as many network events as possible, link up with as many other organisations as possible, to ensure we are able to provide support.
“People will often think I am visiting to talk about football, and aren’t aware of the work that the Foundation delivers.
“If I go to a session, a lot of the time I will speak to a group and say what I do and no one will ask for help, even though when I look around, I can see from the body language that people are interested.
“Then, I will go back a week or two later and speak to people individually and that is when they will admit that they need support.
“It is similar with the one-to-one sessions, especially when they are delivered here at Molineux.
“I have had several people tell me that they sometimes find it difficult to disclose their issues, but being at Molineux, looking over the pitch, they feel more relaxed and will open up.
“Sometimes a person will arrive to talk about one problem, and leave having disclosed five, but more often than not, there is support available to help with them all.
“There is so much we can help with, including completing forms to make sure people are accessing all the benefits they are entitled to.
“It’s all about having different ways to approach people, but also shows the power of the Wolves badge in the way the Foundation is able to encourage people to open up, and work with others across the city to provide support as a result.”
The work of Garry and other Foundation staff is definitely producing results.
With energy bills still significantly higher than they were in late 2021, referrals for support to the Foundation rose by 29.6% in November compared to the previous month.
Working with energy partners such as Act on Energy, Warmer Homes West Midlands and Severn Trent Water’s Big Difference scheme, residents of the city receive support if they are in arrears or access to guidance or some of those physical resources which can reduce their monthly costs.
Sam Ball, external relationships co-ordinator with Severn Trent Water, says: “The referrals I receive from Wolves Foundation have meant that we have saved customers just over £2,000 so far, and I’d like to spread the message to as many people as possible.”
And spreading the message is what Garry is continuing to do with the Foundation, also focusing on a strong sense of teamwork across the city with charities and agencies working closely together to support the community.
“When I started here, I would often take the job home with me a little bit and find it difficult to accept some of the challenges that people are facing,” he admits.
“But I soon realised that it is more about doing what we can, both at the Foundation and working with so many other organisations across the city, to help people access the support that is out there for them.
“It is really important that we are able to make these breakthroughs and, with everyone working together, it is making a positive difference to people’s lives.”
